


JNGL

by Scoopadifuego



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant, During Canon, Gen, Pre-Canon, Pre-RWBY, Prequel, Volume 0
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:49:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 43,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29533638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scoopadifuego/pseuds/Scoopadifuego
Summary: The year before it all began, Beacon's newest crop of students fight for glory as Team CFVY rises to fame.  Ozpin and Glynda strive to keep Amber's condition a secret, and risk it all to keep the relic safe from Salem's clutches.  How will the students react when a legendary student and a new record-breaking team arrive, mysterious forces begin to appear, and it eventually all comes crashing down?Written from the perspective of an unseen OC team in Team CFVY's year, with behind the scenes inside Ozpin's inner circle.
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue: A land defeated

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on Wattpad  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Gale Grigia lay slumped against the remains of Beacon Tower, and looked up at the darkening sky. The bellowing from the nightmare creatures called Grimm battered her ears, and her fingers groped involuntarily at her weapons belt. But just like last time, there was nothing to be felt but the pain in her knee, a jarring reminder of the predicament she was facing . Barely 20 metres away, the dull blue edge of her bow-sword lay twisted and half buried in the rubble, the string broken and arrows scattered on the ground. Just as it was when the Ursa had finally knocked her down.

A hand fell on her shoulder.

“Gale, we have to get moving, those creatures will be on top of us in a minute.” said a boy, his eyes stark against his blackened face, which bore no traces of its usual olive tone. He began lifting her up off the concrete, flinching as his shoulder stabbed him again. Gale braced herself against the wall.

“I can’t go far, that Ursa crushed my leg just before I killed it”.

“Then we’ll have to hide.”

“Hide?”

“Below the training podium, they won’t be able to follow us there.”

She took Nero’s arm, but her height made it awkward and put more pressure on his damaged shoulder. Progress was painful, and the crawl under the podium agony for both of them. What was left of Gale’s grey ponytail blew in their eyes, and fresh blood dripped from the wound on Nero’s face, splattering onto the pavement below.

But it wasn’t all blood. There were tears too.

They came out into a small opening, and saw a green mass crumpled up on the opposite side of the cavern. Lina must have had the same idea as they had. Gale flung herself against one of the pillars, and sat down to examine her knee. It was bad. How bad, she couldn’t tell, especially not in this dim light, and she doubted she would know until the night was over. Or longer.

The roars grew closer, and Gale felt a tear slipping down her own cheek as she laid there, still in disbelief at what had transpired over the last few hours. She could hardly blame Nero for crying too, though it wasn’t something she ever expected to see. Difficult parents and a stint in Vacuo tended to encourage a serious, resilient nature, not empathy or shows of emotion. But what did backgrounds matter now, thought Gale. What did anything matter, if the whole of Remnant was falling apart?”

And… if your leader was missing out there, somewhere, in this unfolding nightmare?


	2. Part 1: Maiden Voyages | Volume 0 Chapter 1: Breaking the ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Other than Ruby's short interview in the very first chapter of Volume 1, we never got to see the leadup into being accepted into Beacon. In this first character introduction chapter, Jasper experiences the stresses of an application interview, and Lina packs up to leave home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad.  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Transcript 1: Breaking in?

“So why should we accept you into Beacon then?”

Jasper Glass sat nervously across the huge oak desk in the interview room. This was the outcome he had feared. He had hoped to gloss over the one glaring shortcoming on his transcript, but Professor Goodwitch had picked his façade apart as neatly as a surgeon dissecting a frog from high school biology class.

Glynda Goodwitch adjusted her glasses and stared into Jasper’s soul once again. “Mr Glass, I’m going to need an answer from you. We only accept the best of the best at this school, and despite your impressive academic record, your combat history leaves somewhat to be desired. Why such a significant gap?”

“I… I’m still…”

Jasper sighed. It was over anyway; he’d blown his chance. “I applied to Beacon because I thought it would be able to provide everything I needed… to go to the next level.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well… the few problems I had I thought could be solved here. Beacon has possibly the best teachers and resources in Remnant for helping students learn and gain skills in ways that I couldn’t dream of at Signal. Most of my problems are caused by me focusing too much on the details.”

“You’re still not telling me everything. What’s holding you back?”

Jasper dropped his head. “I’m… not sure how to use my skills in a fight when I can’t control my semblance: It can sometimes hurt other people. I only realised what was happening near the end of combat school.”

The professor nodded. “A troublesome semblance can cause all sorts of issues, but I’m surprised to hear that it was not rectified earlier.” She stood and moved to the other side of the office opposite Jasper. “Show me”.

Jasper stood cautiously and felt his red jacket for objects which might be used for a demonstration. Nothing. He checked the pockets in his long green trousers, but there was nothing but… his wallet! Surely there were a few old business cards or Lien he could use. Jasper pulled out a thin silver card and mopped his brow, suddenly nervous under so much pressure. He squeezed the card under the watchful eye of the professor. Nothing happened.

“Uhh, let me try again”.

Again, nothing. Professor Goodwitch frowned.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” blurted Jasper as he desperately tried to activate his semblance.

“Mr Glass, I’m beginning to doubt your sincerity. Your transcript is… unusual to say the least, and if you have tampered your details with I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Dishonesty will not be tolerated.”

Jasper brought his fist down on the desk in frustration. “Please Professor, I’m just trying to…”

An enormous cracking sound filled the air and the massive desk split in two, papers, electronics and Professor Goodwitch’s favourite mug sliding onto the ground in a rippling, clanging heap.

“Trying to do… that.” Jasper said weakly. He was going to get it now. That desk must have been nearly a hundred years old, and he was suddenly ridiculously aware of how expensive it looked, now that it was in ruins on the floor of Professor Goodwitch’s office. He turned away, not daring to look her in the eyes. “I’m sorry”.

“Don’t be.”

“What?”

“Semblances often are associated with or unlocked during times of strong emotion. I’m glad I was able to assist”.

Professor Goodwitch lifted her crop and a purple flash filled the room. The papers, desk and even her favourite mug flung themselves into the air and meshed together, reassembling in an instant. It was like nothing had ever happened.

“Now I’m still not exactly sure what you did there. The desk seemed to break far easier than I would have expected. Is your semblance strength based? Or touch based?”

Jasper shook his head. “Sort of. No, it’s a bit more complicated than that. When I touch something, I can destabilise its microstructure, and so can make things fragile and easier to break. At first I thought I was just clumsy and uncoordinated, and so it took a very long time to figure out what was going on.”

“I see.”

Jasper looked up at the professor. “I want to come to Beacon so I can learn more about my semblance and control it. So I can become a better Huntsman… and avoid hurting anyone else.”

Glynda smiled. “Well, you were right that Beacon is the place to accomplish that. If you can keep your academic results up and work hard, I’m sure the instructors here will be able to help you. They are well experienced in a wide variety of learning techniques and semblances. I’m confident you will fit in just fine.”

“Thank you professor!” breathed Jasper.

Glynda Goodwitch walked over and picked up a small red seal. Three quick stamps and she handed the papers back to Jasper. “Welcome to Beacon,” she said.

The word “ACCEPTED” reflected brightly in the afternoon sunlight.

Transcript 2 – Breaking Away

“Hurry up Lina, there’s only half an hour before your airship leaves for Beacon!”

“Come on, I’m nearly ready and you know it. You helped pack after all.”

A cleanly cut bob of light purple hair appeared over the edge of the counter. The face attached to it certainly wasn’t as pleasant and bouncy, and it scowled deeply as Lina put the final few things in her already overstuffed suitcase and slammed it shut.

“Are you sure you won’t need anything else?”

“I’ll be fine, dad, it’s just a school. Besides, I’ll have this with me.” She unhooked the violet mass off her back and braced it against her shoulder as it unfolded into a powerful semi-automatic firearm.

“I really wish you wouldn’t open that inside, Lina” said her mother from the other side of the room. She adjusted her pressed black accountant’s uniform as she leaned into the doorway, the white and orange tip of a fox tail visible below her dress. Skye Lavender slid through the doorway and enveloped her daughter in a tight grasp, tears welling in her blue eyes. “I do still worry about you”.

Lina fought to break free from her grasp and inhaled a deep breath after prying her face from her mother’s shoulder. She stepped back and re-holstered her weapon.  
“Well I don’t know how to tell you not to worry. You know I’m not built for an office job like you or like dad.”

“But what about your big sister Lisa? She’s done so well for herself in the last few years”

“I don’t want to sit all day and read headlines, it’s the most boring thing imaginable. And do you know how many people mistake me for her, or worse, assume I must want to do the same just because it worked for her?” Lina picked up her suitcase. “ I need to do things, to fight things – monsters, crime, action. I don’t want to be the sister of a famous newsreader; I want to be a huntress.”

Lina’s dad nodded. He stepped between the two women and put his arms down around their shoulders. That’s what they were now – women. One older, more experienced fox Faunus wary of life’s challenges, and one younger fox, nearly full grown, ready and eager to take them head on.

“She’s our little Thumbelina no more, Skye. She’s ready to write her own story now. Reading from the same book as everyone else doesn’t always work.”

Lina looked up at her dad and for the first time felt queer about her decision to move. She was going to miss how he talked, the way he always summed things up and explained them as only he could. It wasn’t by accident that the patent office was named Asher Lavender & Co. As they walked out to the airship station, Lina felt unsure of what that story was or how to write it, and wondered if she had made the right choice in applying to Beacon Academy. Even after the goodbyes that followed, and the airship taking off, leaving her life behind in an ever shrinking speck, she still didn’t know.

Only when the future students began crowding the windows, and Beacon Tower appeared like a pillar of hope in the distance did she know she had made the right decision. She was here to fight monsters and find adventure. No longer would her last name tie her to her sister or the family business. She was Lina Lavender, huntress in training.


	3. Volume 0 Chapter 2: Landings and Landing Strategies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having returned to Vale, Nero wonders whether he'll be treated as an outsider by those at Beacon. Gale is way more excited than she should be about the upcoming initiation, much to the anguish of unsuspecting participants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad.  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Transcript 1: (Un)Welcome Landing

Nero August looked about as he stepped off one of the many airships landing at Beacon Academy, and felt both out of place and out of the ordinary. He knew no one here – that was one of the troubles of having trained in Vacuo during the last few years – and his distinctly Vacuan garb made him feel like an outsider once again. The people of Vacuo were generally suspicious of outsiders to begin with as well, but he had expected that the moment he packed his bags.

Nero lowered his head and coughed, trying to push the unpleasant memories to the back of his mind. He hadn’t run away. He had simply left home early in search of a better life, and Vacuo was the most logical place for someone wanting to learn to fend for themselves. The crowd of inductees bustled and bumped Nero and he struggled to resist as the group murmured towards the huge gates leading into Beacon Academy. That’s what he always did. He didn’t like being pushed around, didn’t like to accept how others treated…

He sighed. He probably had run away. The thought had followed Nero from Vale to Vacuo and hadn’t left him the whole time he was there. He was going to have to face it eventually. Face what he had left behind. What he had run away from.

“Hey!”

A boy with dark orange hair, sleeveless vest and wicked looking orange blades attached to his arms was looking straight at him. If staring with dead white eyes could be considered looking. He was blind.

‘You don’t like going with the flow either?” he continued. “Are you Vacuan as well?”

Nero raised his eyebrows. “How did you know? I take it you can’t…” he bit his tongue, embarrassed at his careless slip up.

“Can’t see?” the boy grinned. “You would be right. I can’t exactly SEE… but I have my ways. I’m Fox. Fox Alistair”. The handshake was an awkward one but now Nero didn’t care about the jostling. He wanted to find out more about this Fox, this blind boy who somehow saw him.

“Nero. I’ve been training in Vacuo for the past few years, but I’m originally from Vale.”

“I lived with a nomad tribe called the Kentye, and was taught to fight by a man named Copper.’’ Fox lowered his blank gaze. “But then he was killed. The only person who saw value in a blind kid, needlessly killed over belongings. So I came here, where lives are valued more than property, to help others and prevent more pointless deaths.”

Nero stopped short, although they were practically under the huge archway now, and instructors were already beckoning them inside. Fox’s story was so different to his, and yet it mirrored his own.

“Did you ever feel like you were… running away?” Nero asked tentatively, running his hand slowly through his golden curls.

“No. I’ve never really thought of Vacuo as home, so I don’t think I’m running away.” Fox responded thoughtfully. “I have a few perspectives that most people there don’t really care for. So I want to train here, where they more accepted. What about you?”

That was the question, thought Nero. “I’m not quite sure. I guess I’m here to figure that out”.

They finally passed under the arches, which fed into a large courtyard with a fountain and long cobblestone path leading up towards the central buildings, with Beacon Tower rising above them all right in the centre. Nero hardly remembered the walk up to the tower, nor most of the tour and associated historical quips given by a green-haired professor who seemed surgically attached to his coffee thermos. He finally snapped to attention when the professor was assigning lockers – rocket propelled lockers, as it turned out – to the new inductees. This was the moment, Nero thought as the students lined up. These were the people he would be spending the next four years with, and he didn’t know a thing about them because he had been worrying about his personal problems this whole time.

He studied them with a discerning gaze. It was he and Fox at the back of the line, then a tiny Faunus girl with lavender hair and a fox tail, dwarfed by the massive machine gun on her back. Nero smiled. There was more than one fox here, he thought. Next, a girl with puffy golden hair and white crop top carrying a jade staff. Two blue-haired identical twins, one a bored-looking axe-wielder in black leather, and his short-haired brother, carrying a pair of thin swords. A tall girl in grey with an equally grey ponytail and a large blue bow – or rather a bow-sword – on her back. The upturned corners of her lips betrayed the mischief hidden in her round chocolate eyes.

Then a glamourous girl who looked like she had just walked out of a fashion parade. Nero stared. That beret alone must have cost hundreds of Lien. He couldn’t see her weapon, unless it was inside that heavy-looking handbag. Despite the flamboyancy, Nero thought she carried herself with poise and had an idea she would make a good leader. After her was a shy-looking girl in brown with matching brown bunny ears and a… camera? That’s what it looked like, at least. You could never tell with weapons, they always seemed to have extra unexpected functions, usually gun-related. He wondered if his dust-infused whips would be able to match it with these fancy ones. Like the transforming gauntlets of the boy in bright red and green, or even the clarinet missile launcher held by the red-head in heels and puffy pink combat skirt. Who would be silly enough to dream up a musical instrument as a weapon?

Nero’s comparison stopped there, for blocking his view of the line was a veritable giant. He was kitted in light green armour and stood at least 7 feet tall, with the largest broadsword Nero had ever seen strapped to his back. It could probably cut clean through his metal whips with the power of that massive frame behind it, he thought nervously.  
He was interrupted by a voice beside him. “Black, green, gold, yellow, light blue…”

“What are you doing, Fox?” gasped Nero. “I thought you couldn’t see?”.

“Oh I’m blind all right, I can’t see the other’s outfits or weapons like you. But I can see people’s Aura, that’s part of my semblance. See, yours is purple.”

“You’re right, too. Handy thing to have.”

“Absolutely. I sometimes wonder if my semblance developed to help counteract my vision, or lack thereof. They all say your semblance and your personality are linked, but I think it’s related to the physical as well.”

The pair had reached the front of the line now, and were each given a scroll linked to their locker, along with instructions on how to send their locker anywhere in Vale based on a six-digit code. The tour complete and the day now far spent, Nero and Fox began heading towards the sleeping area where they would spend their first night at Beacon.

“I hope we can be on the same team,” said Nero. “I would enjoy some Vacuan company.”

“As would I. But no matter how it ends up, it doesn’t stop us from being pals.”

They turned the corner to the washrooms, and Fox paused. “And don’t worry about these Valeians.” he said. “I’ve lived my whole life being different to others. Sometimes it’s hard, but you learn how to get along alright.” He broke out into that familiar grin once again. “Besides, I’ll have to turn a blind eye if you do end up worrying.” Fox raised his hand in farewell. “See you at the cliff!”

Transcript 2: Unexpected Landings

The sun was not far above the horizon when the sleepy first-years shuffled their way to Beacon Cliff. Many still bore signs of the night before, with eye-bags and messy hair abundant as a result of their early rousing. Several students had still been fast asleep when Professor Port’s voice boomed instruction to assemble there in ten minutes over the loudspeaker system. Of the first-years who stood in front of Professor Ozpin, these were perhaps the most dishevelled, some pessimistically wondering if it was worth being constantly accosted by the new surprises they had been told to expect the day before.

Not so was Gale Grigia. She looked about with a smile on her lips and a spring in her step. Today was a day of new opportunities, to scout potential teammates, to see new weapons in action… to play a few pranks…

And it was going to be fun.

Professor Ozpin adjusted his glasses and spoke. “Today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald forest. Inside the forest are several relics inside an abandoned temple. You must pair up and retrieve a relic for the both of you, but will be using your own landing strategy to reach the forest.”

Glynda Goodwitch frowned. Of course you would use your own landing strategy, how could it possibly be any different? She would make sure the unnecessary line was removed from next year’s speech. Nobody who made it to Beacon would be stupid enough to assume otherwise.

“The person who you first make eye contact with inside the forest will be both your teammate for this exercise and for the next four years.”

Teammates already! Gale could hardly believe her ears, and hardly listened to the rest of Ozpin’s speech as her brain whizzed through the possibilities of what might happen. What if she was paired with that stylish girl, or the Vacuan guy with the cool tunic? The twins seemed a bit unenthused and boring, but what about the tall guy with the big sword?  
So caught up in her scenarios was Gale that she nearly missed the final and most important part of Ozpin’s monologue.

‘’You will be monitored and graded throughout the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. Do not hesitate to destroy anything in your path, or you will die.”

Here we go then, thought Gale. Students began to be launched up and away by the spring-loaded platforms they stood on, and she looked around to see how others were approaching the fall. Next to her, the blonde with the green staff unfolded it to reveal a speargun and rope dart apparatus, and beyond her, a ginger girl with… a clarinet! With wind dust capabilities! That was so cool! Both of those should have no trouble getting down, thought Gale, but she did wonder what the Faunus with the camera and backpack was planning on doing.

Then suddenly, she felt a massive heave below her feet and she was in the air too, almost before she knew it as she had again been distracted by the others. The ends of her loose ponytail flew around her brown and gold shoulder pads as she dived down towards the trees and drew the long blue bow-sword from behind her back. Gale brought it down over the top of a large branch, grasped the upper half with her left hand, and skidded along to the end of the limb, before throwing it point first into the ground in front of her, landing, rolling and regripping the hilt all in one fluid motion as she rose.

Gale looked around silently for any signs of danger, but the only thing she noticed was the sound of the other students falling into the forest about her. Then she heard, growing gradually closer like the beat of some staccato drum, a steady intermittent firing, and suddenly a green dress billowing over a bright purple machine gun burst into view below the tree-line. The bullets tore into the forest floor, and the figure’s descent slowed almost to a stop, before she dropped gracefully on the ground, quickly looked about and spied Gale.

“Oh, you’re here” declared Lina Lavender. “You’re that girl from Hammerhead Point, aren’t you? I bet you are good at fighting Grimm, having come from outside the kingdom.”

Hammerhead point was one of the few stable settlement on in eastern Sanus outside Vale. It lay directly south of the kingdom on the very edge of the continent, a seaside place at the mouth of a steep valley which widened out near the ocean, hence the name. The valley itself was practically a canyon, and its walls gave some natural protection against Grimm, although being outside the kingdom inevitably meant a higher concentration of Grimm than most would experience.

“Yes, I have seen my fair share of Grimm. How did you know that? I’m Gale, by the way. Gale Grigia.”

“Lina Lavender. I spent last evening looking up all the new students this year so I knew who to side with when picking our teams.” Lina’s brow twitched with annoyance. “Although that went out the window when the headmaster threw that pairing nonsense on us this morning.”

“Lavender? Ohhh, you must be…”

“DON’T say it” growled Lina, her frown darkening considerably. “I’m LINA – pretend the rest doesn’t even exist.”

“Sorry.”

The girls stood in an awkward silence, the noise from the other students swallowed up by the dense foliage surrounding them. Finally, Lina spoke.

“We should start looking for these relics, I suppose. Did you see which direction we should head?”

“No,” sighed Gale. “I’ve clean forgot where we landed, much less where we are supposed to go.”

“That’s a problem,” muttered Lina. “If we got back above the trees we might be able to see the clearing where the temple is supposed to be.” she paused. “AutoBeat’s bullets can help me manoeuvre down from high places like the cliff, but aren’t strong enough to lift me. The gun doesn’t take gravity cartridges.”

A spark of cunning suddenly flashed through Gale’s chocolate eyes. She recalled a trick she had learned at the small combat school in Hammerhead Point, where she could use her bow as a lever to launch others into the air. Spying a suitable fallen tree trunk, she placed one end of the bow on the ground and held her foot above the other, across the other side of the log.

“Here, come stand on this.” She said. “The spring generated from the ends of the bow will help propel you high into the air”.

Lina obliged, stepping onto the blue metal and crouching down for better balance. Gale could barely keep a straight face as she sombrely reached across and touched Lina’s shoulder. Instantly, a cloud of light blue aura washed over a surprised Lina, who found herself suddenly disoriented and unbalanced. “Oh, and you might feel a bit funny for a while,” strained Gale, finally losing the battle with the enormous grin hidden under an emotionless façade and brought her foot down on the raised end of the weapon.

“AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh” cried a shocked Lina as she shot into the sky at an astonishing speed, faster than she would have believed possible even for her small size. Below her, Gale lay helpless on the ground, peals of laughter echoing about her as they were reflected by the dense matting of tree branches and leaves.

Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin looked up from their scrolls in surprise as a figure flew high above the forest for the second time that day. The screens showed a most unprofessional-looking figure giggling on the ground, near the location where they had seen the other student appear.

“I do hope Miss Grigia will take her task seriously,” muttered a concerned Glynda Goodwitch.

“Let them be, Glynda” consoled Ozpin. “They are still only children, and first years at that.”


	4. Volume 0 Chapter 3: Temples and Troubles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grumpiness and and Grimm attacks must be put aside if the students are to retrieve the relics inside the Emerald forest and complete a successful initiation.
> 
> Fun fact: Did you know that (canonically) there can be up to 40 students per Beacon initiation? There are twenty stone pedestals from which each pair takes a relic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Transcript 1 – Another Happy Landing

Splinters flew everywhere as Jasper punched through the trees on his way to the forest floor below. The resistance slowed his descent and he landed, one knee down and both fists up, scanning the surroundings for Grimm. Finding none, he rose slowly and unequipped his heavy red and silver gauntlets. They were squarish, with an extended arm guard on the outside of the arm and protruding knobs in a chequered pattern on the fingers.

“That was quite an entrance,” came a voice from his right.

Jasper started, instinctively moving his hands closer to his weapons belt. Peering off into the trees, he saw the outline of a dark figure with blonde hair, his heavily tanned skin blending into the shadows nearly as well as his black outfit. The mass of spiky blonde hair began floating towards him and Jasper relaxed as the figure stepped out into the light.

“I suppose the flying debris made it all the more dramatic” shrugged Jasper. He studied the newcomer’s tunic and gladiator-style leather sandals, which identified him as one of the Vacuan boys he had seen the day before. “It was mostly my semblance. It sort of breaks things. I’m still learning how to use it, but it helps when you’re actually trying to hit something.” He stepped forward and extended his un-gloved hand. “I’m Jasper. You’re Nero, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me” he replied, pushing his arm forward quickly to take the offered hand. “We… should probably start looking for these relics.”

They started heading north, towards the temple at the other end of the forest. Nero didn’t strike Jasper as very talkative, even though he had spoken first when they first met. It was probably more to alert him of his presence than anything else, given the awkward end to the conversation. The people of Vacuo were more individualistic than most others, but then again, Jasper could have sworn he had seen him somewhere before, even though he had never been to Vacuo.

Their quiet hike through the forest was interrupted by a screeching roar from some thick undergrowth a few metres ahead of them, and three large boarbatusks exploded out from their den. Instantly, the boys rolled to the side and drew their weapons, Jasper raising his gauntlets towards the leftmost boar and Nero’s long metal whips already silver fans above his head. As the Grimm turned back to attack again, Nero swung his left hand forwards and connected with the closest one in an explosion of fire dust. The creature’s legs were swept from under it and it flew several metres as the remaining two boarbatusks thundered past it.

Jasper fired several rounds of ice dust from the top of each gauntlet, one hitting the front leg of the left Grimm and pinning it to the ground as it screamed with rage. The other one was almost upon them, when it transformed into a spinning wheel of death as it charged at Jasper. He punched horizontally, almost bringing the creature to a stop, and followed up with a savage uppercut as he slid back from the impact of the first punch. The creature untucked and its front legs lifted into the air before a purple and silver streak wrapped around its stomach. Nero hefted his second whip and the boarbatusk flew in a wide arc and slammed into the ground, disintegrating into black smoke.

The first Grimm had recovered now and was bracing to charge again, while the other hacked at its trapped foreleg with its massive tusks. Jasper ran towards it and brought his fists together, the chequered knobs on the fingers intermeshing and armguards pivoting down and connecting to form a long handle. He pulled his fists out and quickly locked the handle together, causing the open ends of the gauntlets to close and collapse into a flat surface. The transformation complete, Jasper leapt into the air and brought the hammer down with all his might on the trapped creature’s head. The tusks shattered and its legs buckled, then Jasper twisted and kicked the exposed side of the boarbatusk, which finally crumbled into dust.

“Look out!” yelled Nero.

Jasper looked up, only to be catapulted into a nearby tree. The first boarbatusk continued to gallop towards Nero, fixing him in its four-eyed gaze. It deflected the first whip with its curved tusks, and Nero was forced to swing up onto a limb above his head using the gravity dust whip before it got too close. He twirled his whips into a helix and jumped down as the Grimm rushed past, slowed down and turned once again.

Nero untwisted the whips in a blur of sliver, purple and red, sending a blast of fire and gravity dust at the creature’s exposed side. It caught the Grimm in its chest and blew it clean in half, the remains sent soaring into the sky before disappearing into nothing.

He jogged back over to the tree, where Jasper was just picking himself up off the ground.

“Are you alright? That was a pretty nasty knock.”

“Yeah I’m fine,” said Jasper, pulling himself up using Nero’s shoulder. “My Aura is a bit low though, so let’s take it steady.”

“I definitely didn’t expect your weapon to turn into a hammer, of all things.”

“Nah, your whips are great, way more badass than a hammer. Those longer range attacks are so useful. What was that hit you did at the end though? It was so powerful”.  
Nero nodded. “Draw and Quarter both have infused dust in the metal fibres, so if I twist them together and then untwist them very quickly, it sends a double blast of gravity and fire, which is enough to deal with most small Grimm.”

“Each one is deadly on its own, too. I should have stayed back seeing how well we combined for that first kill, especially as I already saw them both in action. If I’d have thought of that, maybe that other boarbatusk wouldn’t have got me. I went with my own capabilities which I was familiar with instead of working together.” Jasper smiled. “Something which I’ll have to learn if we are going to be on a team together for the next four years.”

Nero nodded again. “That’s usually me. I try too hard to be independent sometimes. Something to practise for me as well.”

The two boys walked off and disappeared into the forest.

Transcript 2 – Bickering, Snickering and Team Pick(er)ing

“You could have warned me, at least!”

This was the third time the conversation had headed this direction, but Lina wasn’t done talking yet. She couldn’t understand how someone could act so carefree about such an important assignment. First impressions were everything, and for Gale to goof off with her mass-reduction semblance within minutes of meeting a stranger was completely uncalled for. Gale on the other hand, wished this uptight little perfectionist would stop yabbering and get on with the task at hand. Yes, it was in a bit of fun but the manoeuvre had been specifically to find the temple, as they had discussed. Who would whinge about the details? This girl, evidently. She chose not to reply. 

The girls huffed their way north, walking at an express pace as if they were intent on beating each other there instead of winning the argument. Lina’s tiny legs struggled to keep up with Gale’s lengthy 6’2 frame, and nearly missed the moment they burst out of the trees. Lina found herself on top of a large mound, and recognised the ruins of some colosseum-like structure down below, just a few hundred metres ahead. It had to be the temple.

But first, they had to deal with the Grimm waiting for them at the bottom of the mound.

The Alpha Creep stumbled towards them with terrifying speed for such an awkward gait and was already halfway up the mound before Lina and Gale took action. The former unleashed a barrage of powerful fire dust bullets which smashed into the Creep’s heavy plate armour, Gale opened her quill and pick out several earth dust arrows, hoping to shoot underneath the black and white monster and pierce its softer underbelly, but the creature had already bent double under the hail of Lina’s semi-automatic machine gun. She adjusted her aim and fired at the long spikes on its spine, the extra weight causing it to fall back.

Lina raced forwards, only to be slapped away its knobbed tail. She pivoted and landed several metres away on the opposite side of the creature, digging her heels into the gravel and dirt before sliding to a stop. Gale collapsed the curved ends of the bow to give a long blue katana and thrust the tip between the Creep’s eyes. The sword stuck fast in the armour plating, and her eyes widened as the creature bellowed with rage, shook its head and then tried to bite Gale’s exposed arms. She thudded into the ground and kicked desperately at the Grimm’s chest with her strong legs as it loomed over her.

It teetered on the slope of the hill for a brief second as its tail prevented it from tipping over backwards, then rolled over onto its side, screaming in protest. Having sufficiently recovered, Lina transformed her weapon into its club form, the magazine and handles folding flat and the stock extending to give a long handle. She jumped into the air and smashed the underside of the creature’s chin, driving the katana through its head as it lay braced against the ground.

As Gale gathered her weapon, she remarked how well the two had worked together.

“That was a great job! Our first Grimm as students! Nice thinking to generate that extra bit of force needed to get through that Creep’s armour.”  
“It was… okay. I shouldn’t have let myself get hit by its tail though. It was a good idea of yours to slow it down with that Earth dust. It didn’t like my bullets, but I wish they were more powerful like that Coco girl’s.”

“Who’s that?”

“She’s a wannabe fashion designer of sorts,” Lina sniffed. “That girl in brown with that handbag we saw yesterday. She and I went to combat school together, and we pushed each other with our gun functionalities when we designed our weapons. But her semblance is called Hype, and enhances the effect of dust. It’s very good at blowing things up.”

“Oooh,” said Gale. “I’ll have to watch her and see how good it is.”

“Anyway, we’ve been chatting long enough, they’ll grade us poorly if we stand here all day doing nothing. Lets head to that temple.”  
\-------  
The two looked around the ruins with a curious eye. There were a dozen or so stone platforms equally spaced around the circular space, many with small stone tablets on top. They had curved lines engraved into them resembling faces or shapes, and a letter in the top of each corner.

“Playing cards?” wondered Gale. “Strange idea for a relic.”

“There are two diamonds and a spade missing, we aren’t the first people here” grouched Lina. “Which one should we take?”

“Well, you have a club, and you act like a queen, so maybe we should pick that one!” Gale giggled.

“Quit your snickering! Besides, we aren’t alone, so hurry up and get it already before the next lot get here.”

Gale looked up. “The next lot”, as Lina had described them, were appearing from the eastern side of the clearing. The pair was made up of the gladiator boy with whips she had seen yesterday with the other Vacuan, and a slightly shorter boy with brown hair and big metal fists on his belt.

“Find the relics alright?” called Jasper from across the clearing. “There’s not some secret code or anything we need to unlock them?”

“Of course not, silly” said Lina, rolling her eyes. “Just come take one and we’ll get out of here.”

Nero looked around and picked up the jack of clubs.

“Where to now?” said Gale, remembering she missed those details when she was picking imaginary teams.

“The cliff,” said Jasper.

The four ran off towards the imposing shadow of the cliffs, just as a pack of Ursi started emerging from the other side of the forest, attracted by the uncertainty and nerves from them all, and especially from an uncomfortable Nero and a perpetually irritable Lina. Unbeknownst to them, Coco and Fox were also just coming into view, and they would learn in the coming days that they had almost unintentionally caused a very sticky situation for them and the other future members of team CFVY.

The group crossed an ancient stone bridge with a tower rising above the centre. Some sections of the wall were missing, and other parts showed signs of damage from small Grimm, but nothing of real significance. It would take something like a Nevermore to really do anything to a bridge of this size. Nero was first to arrive at the base of the rock wall which faced them. 

“Anyone have any clues?”

“I might have an idea” snickered Gale.

“NO!” snapped a disgruntled Lina.

“Nero can get up with his whips alright, but the rest of us don’t really have anything suitable for climbing” said Jasper thoughtfully. He changed his gauntlets into their hammer form. “Gale, Lina, if I launch you up to that ledge about halfway up, do you think you can climb the rest?”

“Yes, and I have an even better idea” said Gale, ignoring Lina’s protests. “My semblance makes things lighter, so if you can get the others up the cliff within a couple of minutes it should be a piece of cake!”

“Excellent!” replied Jasper. “Who wants to go first?”

A tiny hand raised itself begrudgingly.

“I’ll go,” mumbled Lina, scowling in Gale’s direction. “At least I know what’s coming.”

“Great!” said Jasper, placing his hammer on the ground as Gale looked on with interest. “When you’re ready.”

Lina crouched down on top of the head, and once again Gale’s light blue aura flowed over her as she touched her shoulder. The dizziness wasn’t as bad as last time, and she certainly didn’t feel as sick or disoriented. Jasper spun around twice before bringing the hammer in an upward arc, sending Lina soaring towards the top of the cliff, her fox tail trailing behind her like an orange wind sock. Gale’s brown eyes met with Nero’s violet ones.

“I’m alright” he said, brandishing Draw, the gravity whip. “I can get up fine on my own.” He started towards the cliff.

“Wait!” she called to him. “Just keep hold of this,” she said, unslinging her katana and transforming it back to the springier bow. “You can use it as a lever to catapult things like the hammer here”.

Gale turned back to Jasper, eyes shining. She had always been the one doing the catapulting, never the one on the receiving end, and short of the launchpad on the cliff she hadn’t experienced anything like it before. She touched Jasper, and he stumbled as he adjusted to his new weight then herself, puffing as her Aura reserves dropped to just above the safe lower limit.

Jasper spun again, and suddenly Gale was flying, flying faster than the arrows from her bow, up and then above the ledge, and landed on the rockface just a few metres below the top of the cliff. She scurried up the last few metres and looked over the edge of where she had just been, watching the tiny black and red blobs below her. She waited for a bit, then the red dot grew larger and larger, and Jasper landed in almost the same spot she had, and then joined her on the edge of the cliff.

Below the watchers, Nero flicked up the bow with his foot and wedged it in the back of his belt. It wasn’t really designed for such a weapon, thought Nero, but it would have to do for now. He spun Draw above his head and caught a protruding lump of rock a few metres above him, pulling himself up and above, before detaching mid-air and repeating the process for a higher rock.

I probably should have gone with the group, he thought. But then again, who would have helped Jasper if he was the last one down there? He shook his head. Even though it was unavoidable, really, Nero still felt like he was acting too much as an individual and not enough as a team member. Something would have to change.

He finished his musing and popped over the edge of the cliff several metres away from the others, landing with a soft plop on the grassy outcrop. Jasper moved towards him, the girls following behind.

“I don’t think we’ve formally introduced ourselves” said Jasper, turning to face the others as he reached Nero. “My name is Jasper.”

“Lina.”

“Gale. Pleased to meet you!”

“And I’m Nero,” said the appropriately named gladiator. “I hope we get to see a lot more of each other.”

And so it turned out. After spending the rest of the morning together waiting for remaining students, the four were ushered into the main auditorium to hear the announcement of teams given by Professor Ozpin. Nero was able to count forty new students including himself now that they weren’t blocked by the giant frame of that kid in green armour, who turned out to have the equally long name of Yatsuhashi.

“Maizy Storm, Hunter Anstone, Jewel Blackmore, Ember Swanfeather. You four collected the suit of diamonds. From henceforth, you will work together as Team MAJE (mage), lead by Maizy Storm.”

The instructors and other higher level students clapped as the first set of students line up in front of the headmaster. Gale shuffled her feet. She wondered if Maizy Storm or her family had been named for bad weather when they had been born, like she had.

“Amazon Flage, Plum Kittle, Knight Hayze, Harley Hayze. You all collected the suit of spades. You will now work together as Team AKHH (ankh), led by Amazon Flage.”

Nero leaned forward. There were only two of the ten teams left to be announced. In seconds he would know which other pair he would be spending the next four years with alongside Jasper. He had grown rather attached to the two girls they had met at the temple, but there was also a pair with that giant Yatsuhashi. He would be a good ally to fight alongside. And the other pair had Fox. There was no way he could decide between those… If only he remembered which relic the girls had picked up, then he might know better!

“Jasper Glass, Nero August, Gale Grigia, Lina Lavender. You four retrieved the suit of clubs. From now on, you will work together as Team JNGL (jungle), led by Jasper Glass.”  
Jasper felt his heart jump, and he wasn’t sure if it was in joy and excitement or nervous anticipation of what was to come. He didn’t mind being leader, he just hoped he would remember to look at the big picture while working with his team and not get too caught up in the details. He hardly heard the last announcement, and only caught the very end of what Professor Ozpin was saying.

“…Team CFVY, led by Coco Adel.”

Coco looked pretty pleased with that, thought Lina. She would have liked to have been leader too, especially given their rivalry at combat school, but Jasper seemed like he knew what he was doing, at least most of the time. That quick thinking at the bottom of the cliff had certainly been a good first impression.

Second opinions were for tomorrow, she thought, and would have to wait. It was time to begin life as Team JNGL.


	5. Volume 0 Chapter 4: Class-ified

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper, Nero, Gale and Lina begin life as students at Beacon. Between unpacking, going to their first classes, they certainly have their hands full. But an unexpected incident leaves a sour taste in their mouths, and nearly results in a much more dangerous mistake.

Transcript 1: Settling In

“No not like that! Put it over there!”

Gale scowled and lifted the bedframe bodily over her head and then thumped it down on the other side of the room next to where Lina was standing.

“That’s better. Now our side is ready at last, better than what those two boys could do.”

“Must everything be a competition, Lina?” strained Gale. From what she had seen so far, she had met rocks that could have more fun than this girl. She pictured an image of a rock growing little arms and legs and jumping up and down to entertain itself, and smiled inwardly. She could never stay mad for long.

“Now it’s a real jungle in here!” joked Jasper, surveying both sides of the room. A few desks had been set up near the window in the middle of the room, but past that there was a clear difference once you crossed the central line of the room. The boys’ beds were at a ninety-degree angle to one another, with the feet pushed into the corner nearest the door. A few bookshelves, closets and posters lay scattered around their beds up against the wall, with a punching bag in the opposite corner for Jasper. 

In contrast, the girls’ side was perfectly symmetrical, with a bed at each end of the room and a bookshelf between it and the wall, doubling as a bedside table. A large wardrobe spanned the centre wall, with a shelf either side for their respective weapons. The one difference between the two areas was that Gale had put up posters and filled her bookshelf with novels, while Lina had “decorated” her side with textbooks and school equipment as well as novels.

He was so busy looking at the room that he didn’t realise nobody laughed at his joke– probably a good thing.

“Anyway. Now we are finished that, we should be getting ready for our first class. It’s uhmmm…” Jasper pulled out his recently issued scroll and checked the timetable for first year students. “…introduction to military strategies with Professor Peter Port. Then we have history with Dr Bartholomew Oobleck – he’s that speedy one who took us on the tour, remember? Then a break, and dust science with Professor Thumbelina Peach…”

Lina perked up. The dust science teacher had the same name as her, that was a good start. She herself resented being called Thumbelina, because it usually meant someone was making fun of her height. She wondered how Professor Peach dealt with it and whether she was also vertically challenged like herself. Then again, “Lina” wasn’t a great alternative either because it was so similar to her sister’s, a fact which people would jump on when they met her.

“Alright guys, lets get going!” piped a bright-eyed Gale. “The only way to become Huntresses and Huntsmen is to gettttt startedddd!”

Nero was also secretly excited for the first class with Professor Port. Combat training in Vacuo had heavily focused on relying on yourself before others, and he was eager to see how military and combat strategies would be approached at Beacon. It was sure to be very exciting.

\--------

It wasn’t very exciting. After giving a short, weird introduction to Grimm and hunting them, Professor Port’s lesson devolved into a long, boring tale about his former years which bore little relation to the material at hand. The only fighting strategies invoked seemed to be the exaggerated details of his own exploits as a younger man.

So much for the best teachers in the world, Jasper moaned internally. Gale was almost asleep, any intrigue and fun ideas she might have had about the learning long gone. She just wished the next teacher was more interesting.

Thankfully, a green-haired history teacher who rushed through his sentences almost as fast as he rushed around the room was easier to pay attention to, although Lina found it harder to focus on the lesson at hand rather than the noise of Dr Oobleck’s constant coffee sipping. But the lesson they all looked forward to the most was dust science with Professor Peach, which proved to be as amazing as it had promised to be. Nero was the most intrigued and hoped to learn over the next few weeks and months if it would be useful to change the types of dust in his whips, or even use more than one.

“Alright students, many of you may remember learning the basics of chemistry and the periodic table of the elements. Now as we know, dust is not made of regular matter, so this class will also introduce you to the periodic table of dust, and what it means for dust properties, how we use it, and how we can combine it to make different types of dust. Dust has a large amount of energy stored in it, which is why we can use it to power our homes, grow things faster, or simply destroy things, such as Grimm.”

Jasper’s eyebrows shot up at her last statement. He had never thought about using dust to aid his semblance, but the way she framed that sentence made it seem like it was possible. It seemed he and the other students were going to learn a lot more than the “fight better”, “adapt better” and “plan better” many had anticipated.

As the first day drew to a close, they walked over to the cafeteria accompanied by Team MAJE in a hall filled with close to a hundred students and teachers. Lina began making polite conversation with their leader, Maizy Storm, as they waited in line.

“So Maizy, did you pick up anything particularly useful today?”

“Yeah a couple things. Dr Oobleck’s class on the establishment of kingdoms was boring, but necessary I guess. I liked the dust stuff Professor Peach gave us.”

“Well,” said Nero, butting in. “I thought Fort Castle was a pretty dumb name for a place. In Vacuo we have actually interesting names for places and natural phenomena.” He stopped. We? Maybe he considered himself more Vacuan than he realised. Maybe he… no it was too late, he should just drop it, he hadn’t contributed anything really useful to the conversation anyway, or even the right topic.

But Maizy smiled at him and beckoned for him to continue. “Really? What sort of names do you have?”

“Well, when someone or someplace falls into a sinkhole, it’s referred to as “sudden demise”. There are a lot of desert related terms used by the tribes away from the main settlement of Vacuo.”

They reached the front of the queue, and were served what was carefully prepared for tonight’s dinner.

Beans.

A bit bland, considering the fees needed to get into this place, the students silently agreed. Somewhat of a lowlight to end their first day.

At least its good protein, thought big Hunter Anstone.

Transcript 2: Combat Glass

Gale’s aura was at 55% but she was sure Amazon’s was lower. The two tallest girls in the class circled each other, looking for an opportunity to strike. Gale dodged back from a jab from the long green spear which seemed to keep on coming, and she realised Amazon had fired the rope dart tip straight at her as she was retreating. She leaned back and caught it in the gap between her bow and bowstring and heaved. Caught by surprise, Amazon stumbled forward, and Gale pushed upwards with her legs, causing the bigger girl to soar out of the arena. Game over.

“And the winner is Gale Grigia” announced Professor Goodwitch, as she scribbled some notes in a tiny handbook.

Getting back into combat was arguably the students’ favourite part of returning to study. There had been some good matches this week, but this one was one of the best so far. All members of Team CVFY had won their respective bouts, much to a pouting Lina’s disgust. She had put up a good performance against her old rival Coco – who had in fact specifically requested the bout – but had ultimately been unable to break down the girl with seemingly endless aura even though she felt she had had the best of the fight. Maybe it was safe to say it was the favourite time of the week for MOST of the students...

Looking past the total dominance shown by Team CVFY, Team JNGL too had fared well – mostly. Aside from Gale’s brave win, the students had earlier watched in amazement as Nero’s opponent dropped screaming to his knees for apparently no reason at all, as Nero calmly wrapped him up with Draw and belted him repeatedly against the floor like he had the boarbatusk in the Emerald forest. A sore and sorry Harley received no sympathy from his twin that evening, only teasing that Knight had won his own match against Pollen Lightfoot.

“My semblance, Scourge, is false pain” shrugged Nero. “It’s not very useful against Grimm, but it’s super distracting in a fight.” Nero was shown a great deal more respect after that day, and any jibes about his Vacuan stint or his different outfit vanished for some reason.

The final matchup for the week, and the last two students which hadn’t fought yet, were Jasper and Jewel Blackmore. Jasper felt a little nervous as he stepped into the arena. He had worked on controlling his semblance during the week, but although he had made a little progress, he still wasn’t confident it wouldn’t get out of control in a fight situation. He shook his head. The students he was facing here were of a much higher calibre than most others he had fought at combat school. Surely they could take care of themselves, like Professor Goodwitch had said. There wasn’t any need to hold back.

The bracelets, earrings and broches Jewel wore jangled softly as she stepped up to the opposite side of the platform. She held up an enormous black shield with blades angled all around its edge, making it look like a ninja shuriken.

That was no coincidence.

As soon as the signal was given, Jewel whirled around and frisbeed the shield directly at Jasper’s body. He put up both his gauntlets to block but was nearly knocked over by the huge force of the blow. By the time he was up Jewel was upon him, sweeping Jasper’s legs out from under him, before jumping and kicking his chest from above as the whirring shield bounced off a nearby column and landed back on Jewel’s arm.

But Jasper knew a thing or two about close combat recovery and somersaulted off his back just as Jewel brought the shield edge down where he had been a moment before, and he fired at her exposed upper body. The ice dust slowed her down only for a second before she shattered it against the shield, but it was enough. Jasper leapt forward and smashed the shield back with a left jab, before a right roundhouse punch into the back of the shield which sent it flying off Jewel’s arm. In response, she brought the freed arm down on the top of Jasper’s head, and twisted her shoulders, sending her brown ponytail flashing towards him.

A surprised Jasper caught a glimpse of the embedded stones before they smashed into his face, forcing him to retreat. He knew there had been too many gems in there for good fashion sense and should have realised they weren’t just for show. Jewel raced to pick up her weapon, but Jasper was closer, and delivered a savage kick to her back as she moved past him. She tumbled but somehow picked the shield up from the ground as she flew over it and skidded to a stop just inside the outer boundary. Jasper held his fists up and readied himself as Jewel charged again but was distracted by a most peculiar sight.

The emerald broach, the sapphires in her hair, the rings, all seemed to be… glowing.

They were… so beautiful.

Jasper suddenly found himself sailing across the arena, his aura not able to completely prevent the stinging sensation in his chest caused by the massive blow from Jewel’s shield. He shook his head to clear it and blasted a few rounds into the ground in front of him, creating an ice wall which prevented him from flying out of the arena. That said, the impact wasn’t much less painful than the original blow, breaking loose a few chunks of ice which fell on his chest as he lay at the base of the wall. Handy semblance, he thought. He had been practically mesmerised as Jewel rushed at him.

Jasper sprang up, careful to avoid any eye contact with his opponent lest she used it again and checked his scroll. His aura was about halfway down already just from those couple of big blows and smashing into the ice wall. He would have to be more careful and change his strategy somewhat if he was going to win this.

Jewel readied herself to charge again, and Jasper realised he had gotten into trouble the same way, as he had in the Emerald forest the other day. Rushing in. Blind attacks which left him vulnerable. He would use Jewel’s technique against her, like the boarbatusk had against him. The giant shuriken flew towards him, he ducked under it, and instantly brought his right hand up to parry Jewel’s attack, punched her in the midriff once and rolled away before the shield could strike him on its return arc. While she caught the heavy weapon, Jasper drove both feet into the back of her knees, causing her to utter a cry of surprise as she toppled to the ground.

He landed a good number of heavy blows before a battered Jewel spun away and jabbed at him with the face of the shield, a long spike shooting out from the centre and catching Jasper’s right arm as he struck towards her. An annoyed Jasper recoiled in pain, then retaliated with a massive straight left as he let loose his anger at being tricked again.

Which he never should have done.

His left gauntlet took on a red glow, before an ear-splitting wrench of steel filled the air and the lower half of the shield split open as if in slow motion, the gauntlet travelling through into Jewel’s leg, shattering her already low aura completely. She fell to the ground and gasped, as did most of the spectators, and clutched at her right shin. Jewel raised a shaky arm towards her broken weapon, before letting it fall onto the concrete, hard, as she saw the state her pride and joy now lay in.

Jasper’s open mouth felt drier than a drought in Vacuo as he looked in horror over what was in front of him. This was what he thought – no, what he KNEW would happen. He wasn’t the greatest fighter by any means, but his potential to hurt others was almost unmatched. He had tried to explain that to Professor Goodwitch, but she hadn’t taken his fears on board, and now look what had happened. What had happened when he hadn’t held back.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” a numb Jasper repeated over and over, catching a glimpse of a worried Glynda Goodwitch coming towards them as he put his hands over his eyes.

Transcript 3: Worrying over nothing

“The good news is the scans show it’s only bone bruising, not a fracture, so she should be fine in a couple of days.”

Glynda Goodwitch crinkled her eyebrows as she looked down at the dejected figure in front of her. She knew Jasper felt it was his fault even though it was accidental and would be experiencing a lot of guilt over potential trauma to Jewel.

Jasper and the other teams had visited her many times over the last day to check up on her wellbeing. She was sore and seemed down for the first few visits, and although she insisted it was because of her broken weapon, Jasper couldn’t help think that she was shocked and uncertain about being injured in a fight, especially so unexpectedly. He knew he felt similarly about injuring others.

“And the bad news?”

“Well, she will be out of action for at least one fight, so in fairness to Team AKKH, you will have to sit those ones out as well.”

Jasper nodded. The cumulative points awarded for each team’s combat throughout the year were based on participation as well as the other factors such as remaining aura, duration of combat and more. It would be the best result for everybody. Technically he had won this first fight, but a lot of points had been deducted from that so-called victory for putting other students’ aura into the danger levels. Any hopes of beating records set by the legendary Team STRQ had gotten off to a rocky start.

“Professor Goodwitch?” he said quietly, looking up into the tall huntress’s face.

“Yes, Jasper?”

He shuffled his feet. “May… I do some extra training with you while I’m not fighting? To help me control this… this semblance?”

Glynda turned her head toward one side, and frowned, considering her options.

“I feel like I should be called Glassfinger instead of Glass, because everything I touch breaks sooner or later. At first I thought I was clumsy, then I thought I was just plain unlucky, but now in actual combat it breaks people instead.”

He looked up with imploring eyes. “I can’t fight like that. Please help.”

She let out a long, thoughtful sigh. “Alright. I’ll take you to the fourth-year training facilities. They have some more specialised equipment used to analyse and fine-tune particular fighting styles. Maybe that will give some more indication…”

She never finished the sentence. A harried-looking Professor Ozpin burst into the office.

“Glynda! Amber’s in trouble! Qrow’s bringing her in, but she’s in a bad way. Somebody found her, they tracked her down and ambush…”

He stopped dead a few feet from her, noticing Jasper sitting in front of the desk, now turned to look in surprise at the usually unflappable Headmaster.

“Who’s Amber? Is she going to be ok?”

Professor Ozpin swallowed nervously and composed himself. “Yes, she’s… going to be fine” he replied in an ever so slightly shaky voice. “She’s a good friend of ours, and I was just worried for her, and let it get to my head. Amber was… attacked by a group of thugs while patrolling outside the kingdom walls, and was badly beaten up.” That part wasn’t technically a lie, thought Ozpin, but it certainly left out most of the important details.

“Oh ok, that’s good” said Jasper. “I’m here myself because I get worried about when people get hurt.” He rose to leave. “I probably shouldn’t keep you if you need to see your friend.”

“Yes, Mr Glass, thank you for your time” breathed Glynda Goodwitch.

“Thank you for agreeing to help me” said Jasper as he closed the door on his way out.

Jasper took the lift down to the main court area below at the ground level of Beacon Tower. He was a little surprised at the flustered reaction of both professors to the news of their friend Amber. It had sounded like the headmaster thought it was pretty bad, but he had said she would be alright, and Jasper understood more than most people what effect that sort of incident brought on others.

He reached the base of the tower, where the remainder of his team were waiting for him.

“How was it? What did Professor Goodwitch say?” inquired a concerned Nero.

“Jewel is ok, but she won’t be fighting for a couple of days. The professor said I would have to sit out any matches during the time she’s recovering.”

“That’s harsh, but fair” said Lina, twitching her fox tail thoughtfully. “It will hurt our points tally obviously, and you already lost half from your fight. I do hope Jewel is up and about again soon, for her sake too. It’s not a nice thing to go through.”

“Yeah, I hope she’s fine too.” Jasper chose to not tell the others what happened with Ozpin and Amber. He didn’t need to spread the teachers’ private affairs. He hated the drama from what had resulted from his and Jewel’s own incident.

After all, there wasn’t going to be anything wrong with leaving that out, was there?


	6. Stealthily does it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gale gets up to mischief before Professor Greene's stealth practical, and a shocking discovery later in the day has Ozpin worried. A familiar face is introduced, but not necessarily in the way you'd expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad.  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Transcript 1: Run

The days were already beginning to fly by at Beacon academy, and suddenly the students found themselves at the end of the second week of the semester, with the weekend just around the corner.

The first years were studying hard in class – with a few exceptions – and team CFVY still dominated the combat arena. Coco and Yatsuhashi hadn’t even looked like losing a fight, while Velvet’s perfect record had fallen victim to a horrible sequence of unlucky timing in her last bout. Her humble-looking camera pack, Anesidora, was unexpectedly and unquestionably the most impressive weapon of this year. But perhaps most impressive of all was the fact that Fox, despite his blindness, won the majority of his fights quite convincingly. His long, orange tonfas wreaked havoc on anybody they made contact with, and were very good at hooking around shields and disarming opponents, much to the dismay of the recently returned Jewel Blackmore.

Jasper was forced to sit out not one, but two matches as she recovered, but with his more careful approach he used against Jewel before he had lost his cool, he performed well in his return matches. His singular loss had come against Yatsuhashi, whose giant frame and sword handed out a bludgeoning that made Jewel’s shield seem like a slap on the face in comparison.

The teams had learned that their academics also counted heavily towards their totals, but were mostly handed out towards the end of semester during exams and longer assignments. The expedition to the forest of Forever Fall and the attached assignment on sap had been the sole academic marks awarded thus far.

But classwork was over for the week, and instead, the first years’ today were all scheduled to meet at the foot of the cliffs, a few hundred metres from where their initiation took place. Today was the first stealth and security excursion, overseen by Professor Ann Greene.

Gale was the first of Team JNGL to awake that morning. She dropped her feet over the side of the bed and stretched her arms and back with a satisfied grunt. No more lectures, thought Gale. Today was going to be an exciting experience, and she was sure she would enjoy every minute of it.

She looked around at the other sleeping beauties, and the cogs in the mischievous part of her brain began to turn. What was stopping her from enjoying herself now? A bit of fun never hurt anyone.

Carefully, and lightly as possible, Gale began to move across the room towards a sleeping mass of blonde hair poking out from above its sheets. This sneaking about was good enough training in itself, she grinned internally. Gale reached out her arm and lifted a coiled Draw from off the weapons shelf next to Quarter, and slowly placed it under Nero’s bed. She looped the tip around one bed leg to stabilise it, then slowly straightened the coils, activating the embedded gravity dust. She quickly arranged the whip into a long zigzag so it would support the bed, and watched with delight as the frame gave a soft creak and lifted into the air. She let it rise about five feet off the ground, then partially recoiled the whip, stopping the bed’s ascent. Gale snuck back towards her own bed and climbed in, making it seem like nothing suspicious had ever happened, and watched through half-closed eyes to see the results of her handiwork.

She didn’t have to wait long. Whether by fate or by rousing from the launch of the bed, less than five minutes had passed when Nero began to move. A bleary-eyed boy with little awareness of his current surroundings stood no chance against Gale’s machinations, and he automatically rolled to the side of the mattress and sat up. 

The bed wobbled a little, then as his weight shifted away from the centre of the whip, Nero was tipped directly onto the floor below with a satisfying “OOF!”. The bed, already at an angle, teetered dangerously, then slid off the whip sideways and landed with a resounding crash just a few inches from the already shocked Nero. The noise pierced Lina’s dreams, and she sprang out of bed with a shrill yell of terror, and Jasper whipped a startled head up from off his pillow.

They looked around the room for signs of danger, and their eyes simultaneously fell upon a heaving bundle of blankets. Gale probably should have acted surprised as well to divert suspicion, but it was physically impossible when something this amusing had occurred. She couldn’t speak, no, couldn’t breathe she was laughing so hard, and it was a full twenty seconds before she let in a gasp and could again interact with the outside world.

“GALE!!!” hollered Lina. “I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU WOULD PULL SOMETHING LIKE THIS. WHAT HAS IT BEEN, FOUR DAYS? JUST WHEN I WAS BEGINNING TO THINK YOU WERE CURED FROM THESE WRETCHED TRICKS!”

“Never!” called Gale as she raced out the door in her nightie, followed in hot pursuit by Lina, who pulled black orbs of aura from her torso and flung them wildly at her fleeing teammate. Several other students in the dorms poked their heads around their doors to see what all the commotion was about, and stared at the rapidly disappearing pair as the threats and dreadful language faded into the distance.

“Well that was an eventful start to the day,” commented Jasper, studying the upturned bed.

“I agree,” said Nero, rubbing his shoulder. “So much for a quiet day of stealth and security.”

Jasper exhaled forcefully, a smile spreading across his lips. “I suppose now’s a good a time as any to start getting ready.”

“We’ll probably have to get my whip down first”, said Nero, pointing at the purple glow coming from the ceiling.

“Yeah,” agreed Jasper.

Transcript 2: Hide 

At a quarter to eight that morning, all 40 first-years were assembled just near the edge of the Emerald Forest, just within sight of the initiation area. Professor Greene strutted up and down the line and addressed the students in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Now class, as we have discussed these last two weeks, there are many situations in which it is best to remain unseen and unidentified, whether gathering information on a person or an area, or tracking or avoiding people or Grimm. In both situations, it is vital to keep a cool head and remain calm. It’s not just Grimm that can pick up on these things, people are more strongly affected by others emotions and body language than they realise. It is no coincidence that even many untrained people know the feeling of being watched, for instance. We however, take that to the next level and develop your abilities in this area.” 

She turned and pointed towards the forest. “Which is why today we will be focusing on detecting Grimm using means other than our normal senses. Our huntsmen have cleared out the more dangerous Grimm in the immediate area, but there will be a few stragglers like beowolves. Your task will be to each travel through this protruding section of the forest, sensing and avoiding Grimm, without your weapons. You will also be blindfolded.”

A titter ran through the cohort as they realised the significance of her words. They were being thrown in the deep end today and being told to swim, or rather walk in this case. They would have to get it almost perfect.

“Your progress will be monitored and graded, however please note if we are required to assist should you run into any trouble, there will be heavy penalties.”

Fox volunteered to go first, and was required to hand over the earpiece he wore which helped him “see”, which he called Ada. Even so, he was accustomed to this sort of thing, and breezed through the hundred metres of forest with barely a hitch, swerving to avoid first a pair of Grimm owls and then a lone boarbatusk. He circled back and stopped in front of the line.

“Can you take my blindfold off please?” he asked a bewildered Ember Swanfeather.

“Umm, you… don’t have one on?” she responded faintly. Fox put his hands on his head in feigned surprise.

“Oh NO,” he whimpered dramatically. “This is terrible! I can’t see a thing!” Then a grin burst through, and he slapped Ember on the back and laughed heartily as he re-joined the line.

A surprisingly large number of the students were able to avoid Grimm when they sensed them nearby, but not many were able to avoid them completely. Many were nervous of running into things, or like Lina, were annoyed when they did, with the negative emotions attracting more and more Grimm which made them impossible to get past without being noticed. Gale’s happy attitude worked wonders, as did Yatsuhashi’s meditative training, and they were the only two other than Fox to record a flawless score. The other successful students had either had to backtrack or take large detours to avoid new Grimm, and about two-thirds of the students were noticed before they reached the end and had to be bailed out. Nero made it through, but Jasper was caught twenty metres short, and Lina just forty metres in.

Furious at being trumped again by Coco, who made it seventy of the hundred metres, Lina walked over to the changing room at the cliff face to get a headstart on the second half of the day’s activities.

Only there was no room to be found.

That’s odd, she thought as she rounded the cut-out in the cliff face which marked the site of each year’s camouflage activity. There was no wooden shack, no curtains and no starting line. Lina walked closer.

Splinters. Bits of cloth. Trampled ground. Claw marks. And… feathers?

She drew Autobeat and transformed it to its gun form. This didn’t make any sense. From the imprints on the ground it had to be Grimm, but this was definitely no beowolf, creep, or ursa. Everything else had been cleared out this morning, yet all the signs pointed to something large. Lina turned around, all grudges long forgotten, and started back towards the group of students to warn Professor Peach.

And spotted an enormous herd of griffon staring at her from a ledge in the cliff face.

Lina gasped, and hurled herself backwards. They were hidden from view until she was directly inside the cut-out, and she cursed herself for not checking before boxing herself into a dead end like this. She snapped open a fire dust cartridge and jammed it into her weapon, blasting a powerful wave of ammo towards the creatures as they spread their wings and dived towards her. It deterred some of the smaller ones, but many swept on, spreading their talons and letting out a guttural roar. Lina screamed.

“Did you hear that?” exclaimed Terra Bluefoot, her wavy green hair twitching as she turned her head towards the sound. “Someone’s in trouble over near the changerooms!”  
Professor Greene’s finely trained senses had picked the sounds up too, and she snapped her notebook shut as the last few students emerged from the forest. “Griffon. Come on students, hurry! There may be more around.”

The remaining 39 students sped towards the cliff with the professor who quickly punched a message for backup into her scroll, and the rapid clap of Lina’s gunfire drew closer. Suddenly, Lina burst out of the opening, and rolled to avoid two large beaks which clacked shut where she had been a moment before. The students drew their vast array of weapons and opened fire on the beasts. Coco Adel, Ally Teal and Lemmy Braithwaite focused their heavy artillery on the two in front, bringing them down, and the students with close combat weaponry jumped in to finish them off. Heather Thorn tangled another one with the plant dust vines from her machete, sending it sailing into the rocks and Yatsuhashi impaled the creature with Fulcrum as it fell to the ground.

Six more of the beasts appeared from out of the gap, then another three as the horrified students began to be pushed back. Professor Greene continued to hand out deadly blows, but there were simply too many for a lone huntress and a group of inexperienced first years to deal with. A decapitated head landed squarely on Hunter Anstone, knocking him down, and Ember Swanfeather was sent flying by a blow from a griffon’s talons. They had defeated nearly a dozen of the beasts but many students’ aura was running low and there were still twice or three times that many remaining.

Then four military airships flew over the cliff and turned their massive gun barrels and missile launchers toward the battle, and let loose. Grimm ash filled the air as the griffon horde disintegrated under the concentrated fire. Several dodged the initial attack and went straight for the airships, but were quickly mopped up by Professor Greene and the relieved students. The pilots landed, and Professor Greene motioned for the students to leave as she walked towards the airships.

“Remaining activities are cancelled for today, students. Many of you received hard knocks during this encounter and will need to rest up and recuperate for next week’s classes. I have a report to file and need to discuss this with the pilots and the headmaster.”

Nero and Gale hurried over to a shaken Lina, who looked like she had stared death in the face. “Are you alright?” asked Gale, lending a hand to help her up.  
“Yeah,” mouthed Lina, a distinct quiver in her voice. “I... I think.”

Gale’s eyes dropped. “I’m sorry for this morning. It seems silly now, considering how serious this could have turned out and how scary it was. Startling you for no reason seems a bit awful for me now.

“Oh, it wasn’t any real harm, even if I did lose it a bit this morning” countered Lina. “Just maybe… moderate it a bit.”

“Right” said Gale. “We should probably help the others and get back to Beacon, I suppose.”

\------

A balmed and bandaged group of students trickled out into the main hall a few hours later, to see the first set of fortnightly results for the teams. Team CFVY would be at the top, everyone knew, but the rest was a lot less predictable. Jasper thought Team JNGL had fared okay despite his lost matches, considering Gale and Nero’s fantastic performance in the Emerald Forest earlier today. Maizy Storm, leader of Team MAJE, was similarly praying Jewel’s injury and loss of condition hadn’t affected them too much. India Walnut of Team LIHT wondered if there was any food set out for them in the hall.

Then the leaderboard flashed up on blue screens around the edge of the hall and a collective gasp of surprise went around the room.

Most Valuable Team, Semester 1 Week 2.  
1\. CFVY – 692 points  
2\. CURI – 521 points  
3\. TOPZ – 488 points  
4\. JNGL – 474 points  
5\. LIHT – 453 points  
6\. AKKH – 452 points  
7\. DLPN – 439 points  
8\. MAJE – 406 points  
9\. SYLC – 398 points  
10\. BTTR – 390 points

They had expected a Team CFVY lead, but nobody had foreseen such dominance in the numbers in front of them. Some students refreshed their screens, as if not believing what was before their eyes.

That’s higher than Team STRQ, isn’t it?” queried a wide-eyed Lina. “And we only had half of the stealth practical!”

“I believe that’s twelve points higher than what STRQ scored in their first two weeks” replied Nero. “Nobody’s even come close to them in twenty-five years!”  
“Well, records are made to be broken” replied Jasper. “Looks like we might see some more of that over the next ten months.”

\--------------

“I don’t like it, Glynda.”

Professor Ozpin picked up his coffee mug and paced around the room once more. “There can’t have been such a big mistake.”

“Griffons are flying creatures, Ozpin, they probably moved in there after clearing the area this morning.”

“And that’s just what I don’t like. I trust that Port and Oobleck did their jobs properly, but we have never seen a flock anywhere near that size before, and they don’t even usually venture near this part of the continent.”

Glynda Goodwitch lowered her glasses. “Are you suggesting…”

The coffee mug slammed down on the desk, the brown liquid threatening to spill over the sides.

“Of course I am! Somehow, those Grimm were lured into there, by something, or someone. Maybe even the same people that attacked Amber.”

“But is that possible?”

“We don’t know what is possible anymore. Someone was able to steal part of Amber’s maiden powers, that has never been done before, somehow a group of nearly fifty griffons was just sitting, waiting for the students in a previously cleared area. That could have ended very differently had those military airships been on the other side of Vale. It looks planned.”

Ozpin sat down and put his head in his hands. “Something is coming. Something has been set in motion. And it all points to… to her.”

Glynda gave a long sigh and looked out the window of Ozpin’s office near the top of Beacon Tower.

“Amber’s in a stable condition, Ozpin. If we keep her out of reach, they won’t be able to do anything.”

“For now. But will she remain that way? And what will happen to her power if she doesn’t? There are too many questions, Glynda. We have to hide the relic. But that leaves us with the most important question of all."

Glynda Goodwitch leaned forward. “What question?” Ozpin sat back down in his chair, a deadly serious air falling over his face.

“Can a half-maiden open the vault?”


	7. Bruises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter chapter, with just the one transcript.
> 
> Professor Port teaches the battered students about the Griffon, while Jasper does some semblance work with Professor Goodwitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad.  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Professor Port strutted up and down the podium at the front of the room, his chest puffed out and hands folded behind his back. Any other time he would have looked proud and self-centred, but today there was a slight air of solemnity somewhere in those massive eyebrows and moustache.

“In light of recent events, our head officials – by which I mean our good professors Goodwitch and Ozpin...” the corners of Port’s moustache twitched upwards at his own wordplay. So there was the old Port under there as usual. He hadn’t done a very good job at trying to hide it.

“…have instructed us to reschedule today’s lessons, and instead teach you more about the griffons you encountered yesterday. Those creatures have not been seen in Vale for a good many years, but it seems they have moved closer, and we must ready to act like men… err, I mean true huntsmen and huntresses… and see them off should the circumstances require.”

For once he had the class’s attention. Many of them still wore bruises and bandages from the encounter just three days earlier, and were still recovering mentally as well as physically.

“Griffons attack with their sharp beaks and talons, and though they look unarmoured, you will find their hide often harder to penetrate than even a death stalker’s. Of course they are of impressive size as well, and have been known to swallow people up in one gulp…”

Some of the shorter first-years shivered a little at this statement, and Lina particularly squirmed in her seat as she realised things could have easily gone a lot more horribly wrong than even she had realised.

“So under no circumstances should you students engage one of these monsters alone. If you became disarmed, you would be completely at the mercy of this perilous beast. Why, in my younger days I had a close shave…”

And there it was again. All sense of engagement was gone from the lesson, almost immediately after starting out as an object of serious focus, which was probably specifically urged by Ozpin and Goodwitch. Classic Port.

“…But through my own cunning and a little luck, I was able to defeat those two monsters.” The bell was already ringing by the time Port finished his sentence, and a wild-eyed expression came over his face as he rushed to summarise. “And so, students, learn from this cautionary tale, and know how you must fight – and how you must never fight – one of these monsters in case you ever find one again.”

The first year students rose and left the extended lesson and the “cautionary tale” behind them as they headed off towards the lunch room. Jasper quickly found Lina and Nero and quickly motioned Gale over to their side.

“Sorry guys, I’ll have to miss out on this one. I have some special training with Professor Goodwitch today. It’s to help make sure I don’t have any more… accidents. Like with Jewel. Or myself.” Jasper chewed his lip uncomfortably, and with a tinge of embarrassment. A few years ago, he had angrily swatted a mosquito on his temple and woken up in the emergency room. It was things like that which had made him think he was clumsy for so long, and being unlucky enough to knock himself out with an overzealous slap wasn’t exactly the sort of thing you volunteered to bring up at combat school. It had taken a long time to brave the peer pressure and talk about these past incidents with his teachers and finally figure out more about what was going on.

Which was exactly what he was doing now. Hopefully, the upper level facilities would give further insight to what was, until now, a mostly unexplored aspect of his fighting.  
Jasper fist-bumped Nero and bid farewell to his team as he walked towards the elevator. The professor had given him a temporary pass to the eighth floor, where the training was to take place. This level, as well as level nine, was off-limits to anyone below fourth-year, and levels ten through fourteen were only accessible to students by direct invitation. He hadn’t been up this high since his application interview a month or two beforehand.

Professor Goodwitch was waiting for him when the doors opened. Jasper stepped out and a shiny array of flashing electronic devices reflected brightly in his vision. He felt like a scientist in Atlas. Professor Goodwitch’s next words confirmed his thoughts.

“Most of this equipment has been donated by General Ironwood directly from Atlas Academy. Over the last ten years, we have found it very useful in assisting our higher-level students with developing their semblances, or understanding how to improve their fighting styles.” She motioned to a large printer-like machine and walked Jasper over to it.

“First up, we will be looking at the physical nature of your semblance. This machine scans you aura at ten thousand frames per second when you activate your semblance to determine what is going on at a microscopic level.” He watched as Glynda opened a drawer, selected a square ceramic plate and placed it on a stand inside the machine. “Smash it.”

Jasper slammed his fist down on top of the plate, and it cracked into three large fragments. The platform tipped back and the ceramic shards fell into a waste container under the machine. 

“Good, good” said the professor as she loaded a second plate. “Now using your semblance.”

Jasper obliged. As he had discussed with her earlier last week, and demonstrated during his entrance interview, he had found his semblance easier to activate when directly hitting things instead of holding them. A red glow flashed over his fist like fire as he swung his arm and brought it smashing down onto the plate.

A sound like glass shattering rang through the air, and the ceramic exploded into hundreds of tiny fragments, flying out of the machine and around the room. Both Glynda and Jasper shielded their eyes as the tinkling sound subsided. Then the professor pointed her crop and the splinters disappeared into the bin like a diving flock of birds. The machine whined and two slow motion videos appeared side by side on a screen. Professor Goodwitch extended a finger and tapped on the left video, expanding it.

“Time to have a look. In the first instance, the plate simply broke as expected. You can see the first crack forming here.” She pointed to a spot on the left edge of the plate, then tapped the second video. “Now in this one, cracks radiate outwards from the point of impact like a shockwave, and there is a red glow underneath that looks to be your aura.” 

She slowed video down even more, and enhanced it. “Yes. As I suspected, you are projecting your aura into the object to destabilise it. It looks to be forming small tendrils or roots which invade any faults or pores in the material, and break them open by expanding, like tree roots inside a rock.”

Jasper was impressed. All the mystery and uncertainty was evaporating away, and he was already thinking of how he could use this new information to his advantage. But the next words from Professor Goodwitch quickly blew all such thoughts out the window.

“So now I want you to use your semblance on me.”

Abject horror flooded Jasper’s veins as he considered the implications of what could follow. Hitting a teacher? And outside of combat? This was worse than his initiation interview. It felt like he was about to mug someone. What would it look like to everyone else if he injured a teacher, let alone Professor Goodwitch?

“Mr Glass, I’m at full aura, there’s no chance anything will happen here.”

Still he hesitated as she stood there, arm in machine. After a deafeningly long silence, he raised a reluctant arm and thumped it on top of Professor Goodwitch’s wrist.

She grunted and withdrew her arm, squeezing it with her left hand. Her aura sparked across a newly formed bruise, healing it almost as quickly as it had appeared.

“From the video, it appears that the impact is absorbed by my aura, but in a few places microscopic gaps caused by destruction of the aura in the vicinity are breached by your aura. Any direct damage caused by the aura roots is then healed using my own aura, which decreases it further.”

She swiped the video closed and opened a folder in the top right corner, bringing up another video. An all too familiar one. Jasper looked away.

“This explains the footage available from your fight with Jewel. Her aura was low near the end of the fight, and the red flash over her leg shows her weaker aura must not have been able to hold together well under the impact. Your aura was able to directly attack her leg in many places, and cause more damage. Her remaining aura wasn’t able to heal the large amount of damage, and subsequently broke completely.”

Jasper sat quietly. So his semblance was more effective the more damaged the opponent was. The perfect killing blow, he mused. Exactly what he hadn’t wanted. The tall huntress walked over and put her hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Mr Glass. This is an opportunity, not a curse. If you are careful to try and use your semblance at the beginning of a fight, it will give you a chance to test your limits without hurting your opponent. With practise, it should help you learn to control your semblance much more effectively.”

She walked over to the elevator with Jasper standing by her side. He was too overwhelmed to utter much more than a simple “thank you”. A problem which had plagued him most of his recent life suddenly had an out. There was a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

Professor Goodwitch turned to him one last time as they exited at the bottom floor.

“Not to mention your semblance is a perfect fallback if overwhelmed by the creatures of Grimm.”

And so it was, thought Jasper. With no protective aura, he could imagine the tiny tendrils of aura working their way into the black creatures’ hides like fingers, before shattering them like glass. A sort of Midas touch.

He shook his head slowly, the ghost of a smile touching his face. Glassfinger. A coincidental name, considering his own, but perfect nonetheless. While many students still lay awake that night, remembering the horrors of the week before, Jasper slept soundly. More soundly than he had in a long, long time.

Although if he had known how prophetic Professor Goodwitch’s last words would come to be, sleeping would have been the last thing on Jasper’s mind.


	8. Volume 0 Chapter 7: An Important Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students celebrate the long weekend by hitting the town, while Glynda and Ozpin take advantage of the lack of students to carry out their plan with Amber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad.  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Transcript 1: Going too far?

“It’s the weekennnnnnnnddd!”

Gale pranced around the room with arms held high, making little circles around Nero. Her loose grey ponytail bobbed up and down and hairs spilled in her face until she stopped, coughing and blowing the loose strands out of her mouth.

“A long weekend” noted an unusually upbeat Lina. “The Peace Treaty Holiday falls on the beginning of our eighth week, so we have an extra day to relax! I need some more books, so why don’t we go into Vale and make a day of it? It’s not like we have any classes tomorrow to prepare for.”

Nero scratched the gold stubble spread sparsely over his chin as Lina looked towards the dishevelled stack of novels and textbooks beside her bed. The superior sense of organisation she prided herself in at the beginning of the semester had long since disappeared, and if anything, it was worse than the boys’ side.

“I’m game,” said Nero after a short pause. “Jasper?”

“Sounds good! We might be able to grab some more dust crystals for our weapons as well. The school provides most of it, but not if SOME people are bent on infinite target practise.” Lina scowled up at Jasper, and aimed a half-hearted kick at his knee, only managing to graze his shins.

“Or if you use Pound Zero to make a giant ice slide from your window. We nearly lost points for that stunt, you know.”

“And it still would have been worth it!” huffed a smug Gale. She had volunteered to test out the slide, and although it had broken and dumped her two stories down in front of a less than amused Professor Goodwitch, she still considered the endeavour a success.

Jasper stood up. “Alright guys, we’ll head out in a few hours. We should be able to grab some lunch while we are there. I’ll see if Team MAJE or Team CFVY want to come with.”

The group had become good friends with the members of Team MAJE following the Jewel incident, and had spent a lot of time with her and the rest of her team following her recovery. Team CFVY were as popular as anyone could hope to be and were highly sought after, but they had arguably spent more time with JNGL than most due to Lina’s link with Coco. It still amazed Jasper how well the two got along off the battlefield, compared to how they seemed to want to rip each other’s throat out when weapons were drawn.  
But while the students were working out how to make the most of their time off, high up in Beacon Tower, planning of a much more serious kind was underway.

\------

“We have to do it soon, Glynda.”

“Students will ask questions if we are seen next to a hospital bed being wheeled through the dorms.”

“Nearly all the students are out enjoying themselves or catching up somewhere else around the school. Most of the ones still here are third and fourth year students studying for their siege scenario presentation. They aren’t likely to come out of their rooms for anything.”

“But there’s still a chance we might be seen, Ozpin! We can’t explain away something like that.”

“Guys.”

A hoarse whisper reached them from across the room, albeit barely. In the corner of the medical centre, half hidden by a thin purple curtain, lay the broken body of the Fall Maiden. Her eyes opened to barely more than a slit as she turned her face them, and her fingers clutched weakly at the blue hospital quilt covering the bed.

Glynda’s furrowed brow melted away into a puddle of sympathy and concern, and she walked over and put a hand in Amber’s own.

“Don’t force yourself, Amber. You need to save your strength for what is to come later.”

“Why?”

Every word out of Ambers mouth was a battle, and she sucked in a whistling breath before opening her eyes completely, looking straight into the face of the tall huntress.  
“You know I’m not getting stronger. I’m not… recovering from this. Salem is just waiting to finish me off, and won’t expect us to risk something like this.”

She turned over and coughed a racking, dry cough, a yellow flash overing her body as her aura threatened to break.

“That girl took away more than just my… my power. It burns. Deep inside. Like my life itself has been sucked out. We can’t… wait. Because I might not be able to.”

The room fell deadly quiet, only broken by the sound of the gears in the tower above their heads. Professor Goodwitch looked over to the headmaster, with hands interlaced and resting on his chin, looking as if he was carved out of stone. Finally, he spoke.

“I’m sorry, Amber. I truly am.”

He looked up at the figure resting on the bed, but she was turned away from him. Perhaps it was for the best. It meant she couldn’t see the pain in his eyes. An unimaginable depth of pain, pain that no one could understand, and he hoped no one ever would.

“Let’s get to work.”

Transcript 2: Three’s a crowd

“Maizy and the others are already in town, she said they’ll meet us at Tukson’s Book Trade.”

“That’s great, Jasper! I convinced team CFVY to come along as well. Coco was reluctant, but I told her we could go shopping together and all of a sudden she changed her mind. I know her weaknesses too well.” Lina twitched the white tip of her fox tail as if to emphasise the superior look on her face.

The group watched as a slow whooshing sound came from above and a Vale airbus descended towards the stop at the edge of the school. Team CFVY hurried onto the platform as it landed, and both teams greeted each other as they stepped on and lifted off. Except for Nero, couldn’t help looking back as they descended and watched Beacon Tower disappear behind the clifftop.

“It looks so different to the way it did before. It seems smaller somehow when you are used to it being there. Not as big and unknown as when you first arrive.”

Velvet came up and looked through the rear window beside him. “Everything is when you don’t know anything about it. I was afraid of Yatsu not liking me when I first met him in the Emerald Forest, and I hate myself for it, because I can’t imagine him any other way than how I know him now. Sometimes your first judgement is wrong.”

Those words pricked something deep inside Nero. He had certainly judged prematurely how he would be viewed at Beacon, how he would be accepted as a Vacuan. Just as how he had judged wrongly about how the Vacuans themselves would treat him. They had their preconceived ideas about outsiders, but to his surprise he had found most of that had vanished once they realised he wanted to be more like them and less like what he had come from. Perhaps he should be less worried about how others felt about him.

But then again, how could he be sure his family would receive him the same way, having up and left for Vacuo the way he did?

The airbus ignored Nero’s ponderings and continued to move towards Vale, arriving at the first stop within minutes. After waiting a few more, they got off at Green St Station, where Team MAJE was waiting for them.

“I thought you were going to meet us at the bookstore?” said Gale.

Ember Swanfeather rolled her eyes. “It’s literally two blocks from here. Did you expect us to sit outside the doors and watch you all the way from the station?”

The group of twelve first-years made for quite an interesting procession as they wandered into the bookstore, with twelve sets of weapons on their person.

“Tukson’s Book Trade, home to every book under the sun” greeted a tall, broad-chested man with magnificent sideburns. “How can I help you?”

“Looking for some more reading material between study” replied a confident Lina. “Have you got the new Scarlett Frost novel in yet?”

“Of course! It just arrived in the new shipment a few days ago.”

Jasper tried to ignore the irony of the two statements, rationalising that new books didn’t necessarily contradict “every book under the sun” if they had just been printed. He walked up the third aisle with the tall Hunter and Yatsuhashi by his side, into the “fantasy” area of the fiction section.

“This one says it’s about a man with two souls” commented Hunter, holding one with a rich brown cover. “Sounds like a lot of pointless arguing to me.”

“That would be hard to live with” said Yatsuhashi. “It takes long enough to learn to control one as it is. I’m glad it’s in the fiction section.”

Eventually, Lina, or rather a stack of books carrying Lina along with it – made its way over to the counter.

“I thought that stack would fall and bury you alive, Lina” said an amused Jewel. “It’s taller than Yatsu, and twice as high as you!”

Tukson heard that remark and leaned in, extending his claws discreetly in front of Lina. “They aren’t bothering you, are they?” he said in a low voice.

Lina flicked her tail. “No, no, they are fine. They tease me, but never about my tail and never because I’m a faunus.” She looked over to the group, where Gale was using her semblance, Moonwalk, to hold a confused Yatsuhashi and Hunter above her head as the others laughed. “They are a bit crazy, especially her, but they are good friends to me.” Satisfied, Tukson scanned her books and began piling them into a large red bag.

Yatsuhashi, the gentle giant that he was, offered to carry the bag as they left the shop, and hoisted it over his right shoulder like a massive sack.

“Never took you for a Santa Claus” Fox sent to his teammates after his earpiece informed him of Yatsuhashi’s appearance. Coco snorted and Velvet supressed a giggle, which faintly surprised Nero and Jasper, who saw nothing noteworthy of amusement, and were unaware of the secret conversations held between Team CFVY. The others didn’t notice, as Gale was busy catching up with Team MAJE’s activities over the past week.

“So after my scroll dried out I brought it into town to be repaired just before you guys got here” said Maizy Storm, gesturing to the now empty pouch on her belt. “Going to cost me a fortune.” She looked up and flashed her pearly white teeth in Coco’s direction. “Though not as much as you’re about to spend when we get to Briggs & Celeste. Bet your bag will be even bigger than Lina’s.”

Coco sniffed, pushed back her very expensive sunglasses and pretended she hadn’t heard.

\--------

The hospital bed containing Amber now looked more like a cot than a bed, with pillows piled high on either side to stop her moving as it was wheeled out of the medical centre.  
“Let us know if you are uncomfortable at any point during the trip, or if you don’t want to go through with this.”

Amber gave a faint nod in Professor Goodwitch’s direction, but remained silent.

“Let’s see,” said Ozpin. “We cross the courtyard by the lecture halls, through the dorms and into the tower elevator.”

“Shouldn’t we avoid the dorms? That’s where most of the remaining students will currently be.”

“We have already discussed this, Glynda. The trip will be shorter, cutting down travel time for Amber and it is much easier to be seen out in the open. If we run into a problem in the dorms we will more likely be able to deal with it than through the courtyard.”

Tension burned in the air, and not just from the disagreement on how to go about the transfer. This process had to go exactly right, or the consequences would be disastrous. Word would get out about a mystery girl, who was seemingly kidnapped from the hospital in dire medical condition, by the headmaster and a senior professor, no less. People would want to know what was so important about this girl laying in a hospital bed, a question which must not be answered. Consequences which could affect the fate of humanity. But the consequences from doing nothing at all were even more dangerous, and so they wheeled the important patient out of the doors into the potential scrutiny of any passer-by.

Thankfully, as Ozpin had predicted, no one was there. The two professors hurried as fast as they dared, the wheels of the bed making a deafening racket as they crossed the cobblestones to the side of the lecture building. Carefully keeping to the shadows, they crept around the edge of the building and then cut across to the entrance of the dorms.  
Progress slowed significantly as the three entered the danger zone. Despite the carpeted floor, any small course adjustments resulted in metallic rattling and bumping from the bedframe, and although much quieter, the wheels still squeaked persistently as they tiptoed past the first few doors of the lower level. Four more doors, and they were around the first corner, heading past the restrooms. Glynda and Ozpin held their breath as they heard shuffling movements inside, and then a loud whine of a hairdryer, which gave them enough cover to sneak around the second corner unheard.

The third and last straight was shorter than the others and only had four doors in total, but just as the professors dared to let out a sigh of relief it was cut short by the sound of a deadlock being opened behind the very last door.

“What do we do?” whispered Glynda Goodwitch. “We can’t go back, that person in the restroom will be out any second.”  
“I don’t know, I don’t know.”

“Can’t you use your magic to make us invisible or…”

She got no further, for with a creak and a groan, the doorknob in front of them began to turn. Desperately, Glynda whipped out her crop, and enveloped the knob in a purple glyph, holding it closed using her telekinesis. The door bulged slightly with a loud bang, followed by muttered cursing from the student inside who had run into the door, having expected it to open.

“What’s happening?” came a female voice from inside the room.

“Door’s jammed. I’m trying to get it open, but it won’t budge.”

More muffled shoving and twisting could be heard from inside, and the frame continued to buckle under the force of the angry student.

“Go, go!” hissed Professor Ozpin. The bed lurched forwards, wheels creaking faster and faster as they sped out the exit. All caution was gone now and all that remained was to get out of sight as quickly as possible before the door was broken down or anyone else arrived to see what the commotion was about. They raced through the short distance between the dorms and Beacon Tower, smashing through the entrance and sending the twin doors flying back on their hinges. Glynda lost sight of the dorms, and thirty metres away a tall young man with black hair burst into the hallway and looked around in confusion.

But her semblance was no longer needed. If Glynda couldn’t see the door, the fourth-year student couldn’t see them, and the elevator was just coming into sight in front of them. As Ozpin called the elevator from the top of the tower, there was a sickening silence where they realised anybody and everybody who entered the tower would see them while they waited.

Ten seconds. Twenty.

At last, with a soft, friendly chime, indifferent to their recent anguish, the elevator opened. The most beautiful sight in the world. Guaranteed secrecy. Glynda checked on a panting and sore but stable Amber as they crossed the threshold into the elevator.

“That was too close” admitted Ozpin. “We were lucky to get away with this.”

He turned his gaze to escape her glare and tapped his card on the ID scanner. Instantly, the elevator began to move downwards below ground floor, slowly at first but with increasing rapidity, before finally decelerating and opening its doors to a huge dimly lit expanse. Ozpin looked out at the maze of passageways, covered in a ghostly green hue.

The vault.

Transcript 3: Running it close

Jewel Blackmore shared a quick smile with her team leader, whose suspicion about Coco’s buying habits had been proven correct.

“Don’t. Say. A word.” Coco repeated for the fourth time as they walked out of Briggs & Celeste. Behind her, Yatsuhashi now held matching bags, a red one over his right shoulder containing Lina’s books, and a new brown bag over the other, containing an assortment of boots, belts and fur-lined jackets. The temptation was too great for Lina, who couldn’t help getting one over her long-time rival.

“Wow Coco, with the amount of time you spend trying on new outfits, I’m surprised you found enough time to go to combat school!”

“Shut up, flower girl, at least I designed my own weapon! I’m shocked you managed to pass off AutoBeat as your own work seeing how much you copied mine!” She knew Lina hated her attachment to her last name but had long since learned to walk the fine line between jesting with her and direct insults.

“Hey! Our guns are nothing alike. Gianduja barely works anyway, it shoots so slow it shouldn’t even be called a Gatling gun!”

The banter continued all the way to the centre of the city and didn’t stop as they approached the food court. Just like old times back at Pharos, thought Velvet. However, what they encountered next, or rather who, brought an immediate end to the conversation.

‘Why hello students!”

Dr Oobleck stood before them, having just left the food court, clutching a steaming Styrofoam cup. He brought it to his lips periodically, taking quick and somewhat jerky sips.  
“Dr Oobleck!” exclaimed Nero. “What brings you out here today?”

“Shopping, my good man!” replied the Doctor, gesturing to the backpack behind him. “Teachers do have a life outside school, you know. My groceries aren’t going to buy themselves!”

The group smiled awkwardly, before Nero spoke again.

“We’re out enjoying ourselves, making the most of our long weekend.”

“Good, good, as you should! Just make sure you don’t forget about the assignment due this Thursday on Mistralian dust mining in northern Vacuo!” Dr Oobleck took yet another sip before continuing. “Well, good to bump into you! I’d best be off now. See you all Tuesday morning!”

He sped off, a green and white blur more than anything else, the resulting gust of wind rustling their hair and blowing Lina’s dress.

“I swear that man runs on coffee” said Jasper. “Does he even eat?”

“It’s a mystery, for sure” said Fox. “He’s so fast.”

“Is that his semblance?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m willing to bet it’s coffee powered somehow.”

“Dr Oobleck always volunteers for the supervised missions in semester two” put in Hunter Anstone. “Whichever team ends up shadowing him might be able to tell us if none of us get him.”

The twelve filed into the café at the front of the food precinct like a giant centipede, and waited in line to order their meal. Something was ticking away at the edge of Jasper’s mind, a thought which was nagging at his detail-oriented mind, but couldn’t quite be placed. Then suddenly, he had it.

“Did anyone realise that he had his thermos on his hip, AND a coffee cup?”

\------

“One final time, are you sure you are willing to go through with this?”

Amber had managed to work herself into a sitting position, with Glynda Goodwitch’s help and the support of the pillows around her.

“Y… Yes” she rasped.

“Thank you Amber.”

The pale, ghostly green light around them began to grow brighter as the bed was wheeled closer and closer to the huge arch. The doors finally lit up and fully illuminated the dreary surroundings, casting brilliant lines and patterns around the entrance. The three caught their breath as they took in the true beauty and magnificence of the vault of the Fall Maiden, even Ozpin, who had seen this multiple times before. It was a literally magical sight.

“It’s time.”

Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch turned the bed sideways so Amber sat alongside the massive doors. For a long moment she looked up at them, taking them in with unwavering eyes despite her pain. Pure, innocent eyes, thought Ozpin. He wished he could say the same for himself. At last, she closed them and stretched out her hand towards the cold surface beside her, as if both resigned to her fate, and yet content she had looked upon such beauty, should it be the last thing she should ever see.

Which turned out to be a scarily accurate representation of what was to come.

The moment Amber’s hand touched the doors, nothing seemed to happen. No jolt of her power being released, no movement from the door.

Then a low rumbling began as the intricate mechanical and magical workings of the vault began to turn, opening slowly, gradually… and then more slowly… and then a piercing wail fell from Amber’s lips as her body began convulsing, orange flames burning from her eyes and a persistent golden-orange glow flooded over her body. The door stood in stasis, rumbling deafeningly, refusing to open any further but locked in a state of partial opening.

“Something’s happening! The magic senses that something is wrong!” cried Professor Goodwitch to Ozpin.

“It’s not recognising her as a full Maiden! The vault is searching for the remaining magic, and Amber doesn’t have it! It’s trying to take her life force as a substitute, but it still isn’t working!”

“Help me! Help!” sobbed a terrified Amber, damaged and in agony.

“It’s your magic originally!” roared Professor Goodwitch over the din. “Can’t you do something to help her?”

“I don’t know! I can’t hold maiden powers since I’m not female! I can’t break the rules of my own magic!”

“You can only try!”

The headmaster rushed over to beside the struggling Amber, and placed both hands on the quaking doors. It took all of his willpower to block out the agony of his friend, and concentrated on preparing what remained of his once significant magic. He thought of the old Amber, before the attack, of the other maidens before her. The original maiden, Fall, after whom all future descendants of the title had been named. Her pure soul and how she had taught him to be thankful for what he had, which along with her sisters had helped bring such momentous change to an old wizard’s heart.

The quaking increased, raining bits of debris all around them, and the doors opened just a fraction more, but it was enough. A crack of light spilled through, and just a few metres beyond lay the prize.

The Crown of Choice.

“Glynda! The relic! This place won’t hold much longer unless we act now!”

A look of pure concern and yet pure concentration masked the huntress’s face as she whipped out her crop and pointed it towards the slim opening. The crown sparkled slightly, then gently floated towards her. Bits of stone gravel and chunks of concrete fell like hail, beating her knuckles and catching in her hair, but Glynda was resolute, and did not falter until the relic drifted through the opening and was grasped in her waiting hands.

“I have it! We need to leave NOW!”

An exhausted Ozpin let go and put his hands instead on the left side of Amber’s hospital bed, pulling it away from the door.

“Watch out for Amber!” yelled Glynda.

Too late. A semi-conscious and utterly destroyed Amber fell back, landing heavily back on the mattress. The whites of her eyes showed and her lips moved noiselessly as the two senior professors raced the bed back towards the elevator, dodging the worst of the fallen rubble. The entrance of the vault ground shut behind them, and the thundering rumble slowly began to subside. They could still hear it dimly as the elevator doors closed behind them, and the journey to the surface began.

“All of Vale would have noticed that shaking” realised a dismayed Ozpin. “We can’t take Amber back to the medical centre, she’ll have to stay in the tower with us.”

“But how long can we do that?” breathed a worried Glynda Goodwitch. “Will she survive?”

“We’ll just have to hope she can hold on for a while. She’s badly hurt, much worse than after her original attack. She needs the finest medical equipment Remnant can provide.”  
“But who can give her that? We are in Beacon Tower, not a specialist hospital.”

“Atlas. I’m calling General Ironwood.”


	9. Volume 0 Chapter 8: Repercussions and Secret Discussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ozpin and Glynda downplay the theories which have sprung up after the Vault earthquake caused by Amber, while Ozpin reaches out to General Ironwood for help on keeping her stable. Meanwhile, JNGL and the other students move into paired combat training, and are surprised to find similarities they hadn't expected between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad.  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Transcript 1: Damage Control

Conversation flew thick and fast among the students in the mess hall, a day after the shaking was felt but still fresher in their minds than the food on their plates. Many dismissed it as a natural phenomenon, an earthquake, but a significant fraction believed it was man-made, mainly as a result of the comments of a certain fourth year student who had sworn he thought he heard Professor Ozpin and creaking wheels of a cart just a few minutes before the rumbling had taken place. The headmaster and Professor Goodwitch denied all accusations, with Ozpin stating he had been with her the entire time, and the shaking hadn’t been their fault.

Which wasn’t strictly false, thought Ozpin, but definitely intended to throw the students off the scent. They themselves hadn’t caused the shaking, it was the vault which had rejected Amber, which wouldn’t have happened if she was a full Maiden. Which meant that it was her assailant’s fault, indirectly. More deception, more half-truths, he pondered. How many times had he played this game over the past thousands of years? One more mark on an unbelievably tormented and blemished soul. He just wanted it to end.

“I still reckon it was an earthquake. It wouldn’t have been felt through the whole of Vale if it was an explosion, or there would be a crater somewhere.”

“But we haven’t had an earthquake like that here since the Great War! It has to be man-made!”

“Professor Ozpin and Goodwitch would be dead if they had anything to do with it, it was so big it would have killed them where they stood.”

“Charr heard Ozpin right outside his door! And it mysteriously couldn’t open, or so he says! Professor Goodwitch could have done that, she has telekinesis you know.”

“Of course I know, idiot! Our superiors wouldn’t lie to us like that, or they would lose their jobs.”

“Would they now?”

On and on it went. Jasper quickly grew tired of the bickering and distanced himself from the rabble. He doubted the professors would have anything to do with this, and he couldn’t see any reason why they would. The only thing even slightly amiss was the weird situation with Ozpin about Amber a month ago, but that was a personal matter, a situation where the balance between detailed truth and discretion was much easier to understand.

But then again, an earthquake like that was very much out of the ordinary. Perhaps it was an underground dust explosion, hoarded in some secure location. Goodness knows how many dust stores had been raided over the last few months, and with an underground crime network nobody would notice if someone went missing if they had been blown up somewhere.

Jasper shook his head. It didn’t really matter anyway, nobody had been severely injured, and short of a few broken windows and some fallen stock in the supermarkets, nothing of significance had even occurred to suggest something had happened. He picked up his plate and slowly returned to Team JNGL’s dorm room. Dr Oobleck’s dust mining assignment was more real and important to worry about right now than speculation over a dust explosion, earthquake or some conspiracy involving the professors. He picked up his pen.

\-------

Ozpin picked up his scroll and held it against the ID scanner outside the CCT tower. He had barely been able to hold on until working hours were over and wait for all those seeking trans-continental communication to leave the building. His objective must remain a secret.

The doors to reception opened silently, and he passed the vacant virtual reception desk and made his way to the computer terminals. Bypassing security protocols using his headmaster credentials, he typed in the number for Atlas Academy’s head office.

“Professor,” greeted a familiar voice.

“James,” sighed Ozpin. I’m glad you’re there.”

“Always ready to help, especially with something like this. How’s Amber?”

His grey hair and glasses shook gently as Ozpin dropped his head. “The situation is dire, James. She’s deteriorating fast, and is unconscious most of the time now. She can’t eat, we are having to feed her using a tube and intravenous fluids. It’s getting hard to keep her stable.”

The general sighed. “It’s not a good situation, having two Maidens out of action, and a third missing. I’m having a hard enough time keeping a close eye on Fria, lest she also takes a turn for the worse. But I have a replacement in mind. I haven’t told her yet, but I know she will do a good job. She’s loyal, fierce in combat and has served by me for a couple of years now.”

“Are you talking about Jacques’ daughter?”

“Yes, Winter, his oldest. I wouldn’t trust that snake as far as I can throw him, but his daughter is making a good effort to restore some reputation back to the Schnee name, and also the perception of the Schnee Dust Company as a result. She’s a very motivated individual.”

Ironwood grew even more serious. “is that why you called? Is Amber going to survive? Are you looking to choose a new candidate for a guardian?”

“I wish it were that simple. Amber is almost at death’s door, but there are no standout candidates among the students currently at Beacon. There are a few young first-years which are showing promise, like Coco Adel and India Walnut, but they are too inexperienced and aren’t ready to take on that sort of responsibility.”

“Well then what are you looking for?”

Ozpin rested his arms on the desk in front of him and touched his fingertips together. “I need to keep Amber alive while we find a better candidate, or if worst comes to worst, wait for one of the others to become ready.”

“And you want Atlas to help with that?”

“Precisely. If you can tell us how you are caring for Fria and send us the facilities to replicate them for Amber, that would unquestionably help a great deal. Or if you have more than that, it would be much appreciated.”

Ironwood nodded. “I do have something better. I have recently been working with Atlas scientists on a pod system which can manipulate aura and sustain someone while they are inside.”

“That’s perfect, how soon would it be possible to deliver it?”

“Its very highly classified, only a few select people know about it. I think you would have to come here with professor Goodwitch to retrieve it so it remains absolutely unseen.”  
“Why is it so secret, James? It’s only supposed to be a medical device, or is there something else it is used for? Something more important?”

The general took a long drink of water as his mind raced. He didn’t want the PENNY project to get out, even to Ozpin. It was very likely, no, certain that he would disapprove. Trying to make something living from non-living parts. He would likely interpret it as messing with the nature of life and death, which according to him, had been the whole reason for the ongoing battle against Salem and her forces.

“It’s… only been tested a few times. And there are many people – bad people, especially Salem’s allies – who would try and abuse a stasis pod and aura transfer machine should word get out.”

“I see. I could pick it up early next semester, before the huntsman shadowing missions. There is no Vytal Festival this year, so an excursion to Atlas Academy’s training facilities would be a good substitute and good cover for the operation, do you think so?”

“Yes, that sounds appropriate. In the meantime, let me tell you how to help Amber in the short term with the equipment you have, and how to use the equipment I will be sending you which I have used for Fria.”

The two talked long into the night, the interface the only dim source of light in hundreds of metres, save a few select students studying late at Beacon, and fast food signs visible from the tower. It was past two o’clock when Ozpin pulled up his chair and got ready to leave.

“You really think this can save Amber? Can she really be held in stasis for that long?”

“I don’t know if she can recover, but she can at least be kept stable until we finalise our guardian.”

“I still don’t know if the girls I currently have will be up to it. Coco’s team is touching Qrow and Tai’s team scores from decades ago, but they work very well as a group and there’s no real standout among them. I don’t know if she has the individual brilliance that is needed.”

Ironwood scratched his chin. “If she doesn’t turn out well enough, and we are able to keep Amber alive until then, I might have a candidate from Mistral if you could persuade them to come to Beacon next year.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

“On my last trip to Haven a few weeks ago, Leo was very excited about one particular girl from outside the kingdom in Argus. She has won the Mistral regional tournament three years running and is heavily favoured to win this year’s as well. Some say she’s untouchable, like a mythical being born to fight. Leo thinks she could take on any of his second year students, and she still has nearly a year of combat school before she applies to the academies.”

“No one has won four tournaments in a row before, and only a handful have won three. Who is she?”

“Her name is Pyrrha Nikos.”

Transcript 2: Damaged lives

A few weeks of mostly uninterrupted classes later, things had moved back to normality, and students began looking towards final exams and the new format of combat classes. Glynda Goodwitch stood at the front of the combat arena to announce the upcoming changes.

“As you know, for the last ten weeks you have been practising your individual skills and honing your adaptability in combat, although we have encouraged you to practise together with your teams outside of class. All of the individual fight combinations have been tested, and so from now on you will be learning to better coordinate with others to improve your strategies and ability to focus on multiple objectives at one time. For the next few weeks, you will fight with a partner from your team, and test yourselves against other pairs of students before we move into full team fights next semester.”

That sounded good, thought Lina. It was another step towards acting as a team of true Huntsmen and Huntresses.

“Your teammate will be the partner who you first met in the Emerald Forest at initiation. You began working together from that moment and will strengthen those ties in the upcoming bouts.”

Jasper looked over at Nero and mouthed “No boarbatusks here!”

Nero smiled back and responded, “That’s right, these guys are much uglier!”

Lina just rolled her eyes. “Boys,” she said to Gale. “They’re idiots, all of them.”

“Ohhhh,” replied Gale with a twinkle in her eye. “Even big, tall Castor Oyle? I hardly see you these days with how much you hang around Team CURI.”

“Shut up!” grumbled Lina. She never could seem to get one over Gale, even though she had had a lot of practise with Coco. Her tongue was as quick and witty as she was jovial.  
After the paired combat initiation was over, the teams returned to their dorms to study.

“Exams are only a month away now,” noted Jasper. “We should go over some of Professor Peach’s dust recipes this afternoon, I love them but there’s so many.”

"Boooooo dust science, give me combat, weapon upkeep or stealth any day. Even Port's military stuff is better if you pretend you aren't supposed to be learning anything from his rambles."

"I thought you were all about learning and perfection, no matter what it was? You don’t like Professor Peach’s content?" asked a twirling Gale, tying her hair up in a bun to prevent it flying into her face as she bounced on her bed. 

"I don’t mind Professor Peach, but I wish people would stop expecting me to be into nerdy stuff."

"What's that supposed to mean?" replied the upside-down brown eyes.

"My sister was like you, Jasper" voiced Lina, sitting down at her desk and looking over in his direction. "She loved data and patterns and science and all that sort of stuff, and you might remember she made a great weather reporter for a few years before she moved to main desk news."

She leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "I'm not like her. I'm not like any of my family, news reporters or lawyers or accountants or other fancy office people. I like to do stuff, hit stuff and be adventurous, and learning sixty-four different basic dust combinations and their hazards just isn’t my thing. I might have picked up some of my perfectionist streak from my relatives, but people shouldn't assume things about me just because I'm a Lavender."

There was a brief silence in the room, broken only by creaking bed springs from Gale’s direction.

“I get that.”

“What?”

“I understand that” reiterated Nero. “I was in Vacuo for only 3 years, but when I came back, I wore Vacuan clothes, picked up a few habits and learned to fight at Oscuro Academy, and have been branded that way ever since. It’s better now at Beacon since most students know me for who I am by now, not for where I came from.”

He coughed, puckered his lips momentarily, and continued. “But whenever I go into town, and even sometimes here, it’s “oh, he’s from Vacuo, they don’t like to talk much, he doesn’t need any help, he looks down on us for not being tough like them. It’s always the same wherever I go except for here, which is pretty much how you find it Lina, except its your sister and your last name.”

“So it is,” mused Jasper. “I guess you guys aren’t as different as you think.”

Lina smirked, and looked over at Nero. “Oh don’t worry, we are different enough. I’m just glad we really see eye to eye on something like this. It’s nice to know you aren’t the only one trying to shrug off an image.”

“That’s a good way of putting it” said Nero. “It’s important to realise where you come from, but I guess that doesn’t really define who you are.”

Nero felt a jolt go through him as he realised how true those words were and how potent they could potentially turn out to be. Semester break loomed large, only another month after the two and a half already passed, then there would be ample time to put those words into action. Where you come from doesn’t define who you are. For the first time in a while, he truly felt justified in leaving his family the way he did.

But it wouldn’t stop him from going back there to make peace with them, to begin reforming some of the bonds he had so suddenly broken.

Because as he had said, it was important to remember he had come from somewhere.


	10. Volume 0 Chapter 9: Deadline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's crunch time as students face their last combat matches for the semester, train semblances and prepare for their upcoming exams. Records tumble as CFVY dominates the results, while Jasper is puzzled by Ozpin's response about his inquiry on Amber's health.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad.  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Transcript 1: Tricky practises

That month ticked by remarkably quickly between study and the extra training for the pairs combat practise, and before team JNGL knew it, they were in their final few days of the semester. Gale passed Jasper as he strapped on his under-gloves outside the first-year training facilities.

“Need some alone time?” grinned Gale as Lina appeared behind her in the doorway. “I thought you were supposed to be training together with Nero as a team, not as an individual who charges at herds of boarbatusks when left unchecked!”

“I’m never going to live that down, am I? But no, Nero and I are already done for the day, I’m just doing some semblance training before I join back up with you guys.”

“Ah, alright” said Gale, unstringing Sharp Shooting and folding the curved ends behind the blade to return it to katana form. “The place is empty now anyway, so you shouldn’t be disturbed.”

Jasper walked through the ballistics-proof door and pulled out a dozen wooden blocks from his pockets. He lined them up in sets of three, one set for his gauntlets, one for the hammer, and two for his bare fists. He had learned the hard way to practise mostly using bare fists until he could control Glassfinger better after mangling the handle and knuckles on his weapon multiple times early in the semester.

He placed the first set on a large, solid metal bench in front of him and raised his left arm. Jasper smashed his fist into the first block, sending tiny splinters flying all around. He picked up the second, furrowed his brow and concentrated as he began to squeeze. The wood cracked loudly and fell through his fingers like small woodchips, and he nodded several times as he inspected their size. He had figured out with Professor Goodwitch after some more testing that the aura tendrils formed mostly from pressure points, like his finger joints or edges on the object itself pressing into his hands. Through practise, he had been beginning to learn ways to send out those tendrils from anywhere , but there were still lots of improvements to be made. The damage he had done to his weapons when he had first tried without pressure points from striking were testimony to the fact.

The last stage was a furtherance of this training. Closing his eyes, Jasper gently placed his fingertips onto the flat top surface of the third black. A few gentle red glows appeared under the surface of the wood, and it broke into three or four large pieces. Still a long way to go, thought Jasper as he used the second set of blocks. But getting better.

Jasper found his semblance hard to use with his gauntlets and particularly the hammer form when performing the non-striking tests. Extending your aura over weapons was common to all students, but precisely controlling the location of the aura tendrils became more difficult when not in direct body contact. You couldn’t feel the object as easily, he thought, and it became harder as the area covered by aura or the distance away from the body increased, which was the case for his hammer.

“Why do I need to learn this for the hammer form when all I’ll be doing is smashing things?” Jasper had asked Professor Goodwitch.

“That’s what you assume you will be doing, but some of the time it will be vital. For example, you may need to hook onto a tree branch and then break it at will just as you swing away so an enemy can’t follow you. You must think of all possibilities if you are going to be adaptable on the battlefield.”

A thoroughly chastened Jasper had pursued the exercises without complaint since that day, being quick to remember the years of experience his combat teacher had over him and the valuable insights such as this which occasionally came as a result.

After exhausting most of his aura through the extended semblance usage, a tired Jasper returned to the dorms for a quick nap before studying with the others for the final theory exams.

“Only three more days left in semester” he told his teammates as he entered the room. “Man, I’m ready for it to be over.”

Transcript 2: Double Down

A battered but smiling Jasper and Nero returned to their seats after losing their last paired match-up of the semester.

"We nearly had you" said Nero. "You were only at 30% aura, one more blow and you would have been done for!"

Fox rolled his eyes, a practice which disturbed many, much to his continuous amusement. "You guys are just lucky you are a good foil for Yatsuhashi and Velvet. They destroyed you guys individually."

"Most of the time" said the returning green giant. "Come on Fox, give them credit, they pick most teams apart these days, they have really stepped it up since we started the paired training."

"Yeah, but not us" sniffed Fox. "That's as close as they'll get!"

"He's not wrong, Yatsu" said Jasper, folding Pound Zero back into gauntlets and placing them on his belt. "My semblance really helps against Velvet, breaking up all those hard light copies and making her use up all her pictures. And I must admit, you on the end of Nero's gravity whip is a sight I won't often see, much better than I could do.”

"Yeah, but then Velvet absolutely ruined Nero once it was down to just them, he's not used to having his own weapons used against him."

"Oh shut up Fox," said Velvet. "Now you’re just being mean."

“Nah, he's alright, said Jasper, scuffing the top of Fox's hair.

"These tonfas are very sharp, Jasper, and I WILL use them."

They sat down as they prepared to watch the last match of the day, and the last for the semester before exams.

"Will Ms Grigia and Ms Lavender please step into the arena along with Mr Oyle and Ms Marilla" droned Professor Goodwitch in her announcing voice.

"Ha, Lina doesn’t stand a chance against Castor” smirked Coco with an evil smile. “Probably won't be able to bear landing a hit on him, then Iris can finish her off while she's distracted by his big muscles."

"I thought you said Iris was annoying?" said Nero.

"She is, but I still want her to beat Lina."

The combatants moved into the arena and took their places, readying their weapons. They stared, face to face, waiting in the ever lengthening silence for the signal.

“Begin!”

Lina threw the gun off her back and aimed it straight at the advancing Iris Marilla, letting out a wave of bullets. Undeterred, Iris spun her spear in a golden fan in front of her, deflecting the majority and jumping high above Lina as she drew close. Castor lay down covering fire as Gale moved towards Iris from her right side, but her progress was slowed by having to deflect the bullets with her katana blade, and she was unable to prevent Iris crashing into Lina’s shoulder and jumping off, sending the smaller girl sprawling.

Lina somersaulted backwards as she regained her footing, and redirected her fire towards Castor, who was now moving in towards Gale. Gale gave a few quick slashes at Iris as she flew back towards Castor, then ran towards the bigger boy, dodging nimbly to her left to keep away from the sweeping line of Castor’s bullets. He stopped shooting and swung his double-ended club at a ducking Gale, who gave a powerful hack at his left side, sending him sprawling just as the club whacked into Gale’s back on its follow-up strike.

Gale was forced to her haunches, but was unable to rise as Iris pushed her spear into Gale’s shoulder, forcing her down as she rolled sideways onto her back to avoid the full force of the blow. Then Lina arrived with AutoBeat in club form, and began duelling with Iris less than a metre away from her. Lina thumped the end of the club into Iris’s elbow, then aimed an overhead smash at her. Iris which she parried the blow, then kicked Lina’s exposed stomach as the club fell away to the side. Sliding backwards, Lina felt a sharp pain in her leg as Castor began shooting again, and she fell away to her left side, turning it into a roll to put some distance between her and Iris. Gale, still on her back, kicked upwards with both legs, sending Iris smashing into the roof far above. Iris fell for a second, dazed, then recovered and used her own semblance to slow her descent and float gently towards the ground, allowing her to separate the spear into its short sword and pistol form.

“I should have known she would use Drift” lamented Gale as she struggled to defend the fire from above as well as Castor’s.

“Well, do something about it!” instructed Lina. “Go after Castor, I can deal with Mary Poppins here!” She unloaded the fire dust magazine from AutoBeat and took out a crystal, pressing it against her skin as she pulled an orb of black aura from the surrounding area, trapping the crystal inside. Lina smiled. She had learned that trick when training her semblance a few days ago with Gale, and hadn’t had a chance to use it yet in combat.

Leaning back, she tried to ignore the fire from Iris, blocking what she could with the club in her right hand, and launched the orb upwards using her other hand.

Gale heard an explosion above her as she reached Castor, and a cry of surprise from Iris as her aura flashed white over her body, and she dropped quickly towards the ground. Castor swiped Gale’s legs out from under her with the longer reach of his club, and Gale quickly transformed her weapon into bow form, catching the club as it finished its arc, hauling herself over his head and heaving at the club as she landed, causing it to fly out of his grasp. She quickly loosed an arrow at him, but it was poorly aimed, having to rush her shot as Castor dodged the last few metres towards her.

Lina had made her way over as Iris fell from the sky, and began attacking Castor from behind, but her hits unintentionally pushed him past Gale and towards his target of his fallen weapon. Having regained it, he flew towards them, spinning it like Iris had earlier, but in a much heavier, deadlier circle. Lina brought her own club up underneath it in a powerful uppercut, but her small size combined with Castor’s much heavier, faster spinning weapon resulted in Lina being flung to the ground, knocking her unconscious, her aura levels falling into the red.

Having seen Lina knocked out of the fight as well as knocked out physically, Gale transformed Sharp Shooting back to the katana and jabbed through the wall of Castor’s club which had been slowed by Lina’s impact. He grunted, and both weapons were twisted out of their grip, falling outside the bounds of the arena. Castor and Gale locked arms, wrestling and circling slowly, trying to find a way to unbalance their opponent. Out of the corner of her eye, a horrified Gale could see a dizzy-looking Iris struggling to her feet, somehow still just above the safe aura level and ready to continue to fight.

Desperate, Gale dropped to her feet, pulling Castor down and twisting so she landed on top of his stomach, winding him. She began raining punches on his chest, Castor eventually catching her wrist and flinging her off. He stood, between her and Iris to protect his teammate, but with a lower aura. Gale dodged his first punch and parried the second, before aiming a spinning kick at Castor’s chest as he threw a third.

What occurred next turned out to be the strangest sequence of the year.

As Gale’s foot hit Castor, she reached out and touched his fist, sending a wave of blue aura pulsing across his body and reducing his ninety kilogram frame to just fifteen. As soon as she had begun the kick, Castor knew his aura would not take another blow of that magnitude, and activated his own semblance, Hedgehog, making his aura hard and spiky. Gale fell down after delivering the kick, a cry of pain escaping her lips as her aura dropped into the red. Simultaneously, Castor flew across the platform and crashed into a standing Iris, breaking both of their auras.

The spectators and Professor Goodwitch looked at the arena, wide eyed and shocked. All four fighters were down, their aura levels too low to continue the fight.  
“Well I suppose… the victor is… both teams. Each team defeated the other, so the match is a draw.”

After checking on both groups, the four were led back towards the stands, with a limping Gale and groggy Lina in the rear.

“Come on now, Fox” said Jasper as they re-joined the others. “Not even you guys could have managed that!”

“A draw!” squeaked a dumbstruck Coco. “Whoever heard of a four-person fight ending in a draw?”

“Not you, obviously” said Plum Kittle from Team AKKH. “You and Fox lost your match against Castor and Iris!”

“The only paired match we lost” scoffed Coco, recovering quickly.

“Well guys, that’s it for today” said Nero. “No more combat for a few weeks, just tests to go now.”

“Ugh,” grunted Urban Stalli, one of Castor and Iris’s remaining teammates. “They’ll be upon us before we know it.”

“Probably.”

Transcript 3: Solving Problems

The first-years began to shuffle into Professor Port’s lecture theatre to begin their semester exam on military strategies. The members of JNGL were separated from each other, just as with other teams, to prevent cheating.

What military strategies? thought Lina. She couldn’t remember a time when Port wasn’t rambling about personal exploits. The homework and assignment material was nothing like what went on in class, and she just hoped the test bore some resemblance to what she had been studying.

Gale sat down and fidgeted as she waited for the rest of the class to file in. She was one of the few who didn’t mind the professor’s stories, finding them vaguely interesting as long as they were different to the previous ones, and was confident she would do better than most of the others who couldn’t be bothered to listen.

Port rambled some more instructions, and then directed the students to open the paper. Show time.

As expected, the paper contained the geographical layout of an area and a few plants and buildings. They were instructed to develop a defence plan for a small settlement which was being invaded by Grimm with only a few available huntsmen, but weren’t told any details about the number, type or location of the attacking Grimm and village.

“This looks tough” mumbled Jasper under his breath. It looked like the edge of a desert, but he couldn’t yet tell whether it was Vacuo or Menagerie, which would tell him what types of Grimm he needed to defend against, and what resources the people might have.

Nothing like Vacuo, the plants are all wrong, thought Nero. And Vacuan tribes would never set out their tents like that, it left them vulnerable on both the west side and the south-east. It had to be Menagerie, which meant they wouldn’t have ravagers or blind worms, and so would be facing mostly ground-based Grimm.

Nero finished his solution and reasoning before nearly anyone else, and left the room to wait for the others. It occurred to him that maybe he could have fleshed it out a bit more, but it was simple, easy to use and quite similar to what he had often seen done by the tribes in Vacuo, albeit with less resources. Lina came out next, followed by Gale, then finally Jasper just before the time limit was up.

“Thought you were never going to finish” said Lina, trying to nudge his shoulder with hers, but failing miserably due to the height difference.

“Took me a while to get started, but my explanation was all right I think. Had to get all the details sorted out first.”

Lina snorted. “Yeah, and those details took up three pages, Jasper. I heard you asking Port for a second booklet.”

“It’s a good solution though” he protested.

“Only if the settlers are all as smart as you, probably.”

After a short break, the students completed their stealth and security exam, then their history exam, where a supervising Dr Oobleck raced around students like a buzzing insect. Finally, the dust science exam which had filled the students with the most dread was upon them.

“Got those recipes down, Jasper?” smiled a radiant Velvet, twitching her large rabbit ears. “Coco heard from Lina that you were up until three last night trying to study them all.”  
Jasper put his arms out imploringly. “Oh come on, Velvet. You don’t have to worry about forgetting anything with your Photographic Memory semblance.”

“It wasn’t so useful for the military and stealth scenarios, but I will admit it helped for the history facts.”

“That’s right, and you’re going to be done with this one in twenty minutes too, I expect.”

“Oh shut up” she laughed. “It wasn’t that quick.”

But Velvet was surprised, as were the other students, to find that most of the questions were scenarios, not just fact recitation, and many struggled to get an answer down in time for all the situations.

“Oh don’t fret about it” chirped Gale after the last exam. “We’ll find out sooner or later how we did. But now, it’s time to celebrate! No more school for two weeks!”

“Team AKKH invited us out to dinner at Floss’s Café in town” said Nero. “Let’s enjoy ourselves tonight.”

\-----

Just three days later, the students gathered in the main hall for the third time that semester. Points had gone behind closed doors since the mid-semester results, and everyone was as eager to find out as they had been the first time so many weeks ago. The results were more comprehensive now, and discussion flew among the students as to who would be among the top students. No discussion was needed for who the top team was, only if they would beat STRQ’s record for their first semester. Finally, just as before, the results flashed up on blue screens around the room, and there was a collective gasp of surprise.

Semester 1 Final Results   
Most Valuable Team  
1\. CFVY – 10830 pts  
2\. LIHT – 9345 pts  
3\. JNGL – 9316 pts  
4\. CURI - 9057 pts  
5\. MAJE – 8669 pts  
6\. TOPZ – 8198 pts  
7\. BTTR – 7820 pts  
8\. AKKH – 7341 pts  
9\. DLPN – 7277 pts  
10\. SYLC – 6892 pts 

Most Valuable Fighter  
1\. Coco Adel – 1490 pts  
2\. India Walnut – 1472 pts  
3\. Yatsuhashi Daichi – 1459 pts  
4\. Castor Oyle – 1423 pts  
5\. Terra Bluefoot – 1361 pts  
6\. Nero August – 1327 pts  
7\. Velvet Scarlatina – 1294 pts  
8\. Fox Alistair – 1269 pts  
9\. Yarrow Floss – 1210 pts  
10\. Atlantis Potts – 1190 pts

Most Valuable Class Member  
1\. Velvet Scarlatina – 1537 pts  
2\. Jasper Glass – 1389 pts  
3\. Zelda Prentice – 1351 pts  
4\. Fox Alistair – 1320 pts  
5\. Lina Lavender – 1296 pts  
6\. Maizy Storm – 1260 pts  
7\. Coco Adel – 1254 pts  
8\. Brett Salmon – 1222 pts  
9\. Yatsuhashi Daichi – 1207 pts  
10\. Pollen Lightfoot – 1192 pts 

“They did it!”

“It’s finally broken!”

“How do they do it?”

The hall was instantly filled with cacophonous cheering as they saw what Team CFVY had accomplished. They had beaten the legendary mark set by Team STRQ, which had stood untouched at 10680 points for nearly a quarter of a century. No first-year team had even broken into five figures in more than a decade. But then Jasper noticed another detail, one far less famous.

“Fantastic job, Velvet” he congratulated. “Over 97% for the theory, including the assignments. That’s a record too.”

“Really?”

Her eyes shone with a happy sense of fulfilment.

“That’s right, you get to be a part of history – twice. It’s good to know your gifts are being recognised. In the future, I’m sure you will make people stand up and take notice, whether on the battlefield or not.”

“Thank you, Jasper” replied Velvet. “That means a lot to me.”

“HA!” came an ear-splitting roar, shattering the moment. “I beat Coco in the exams!”

Jasper rolled his eyes. That would be Lina.

He walked over to the rest of his team, which had been scattered momentarily in the chaos. An unusually quiet Gale stood nearby, her face illuminated in blue light as she stared at the screens. 

“Eleventh in both, Jasper. So close. I know I did just as well overall, but I would have loved to be up there with the rest of you guys too.”

“I’m sorry you feel left out, Gale. It’s hard to take something like that.”

He put his hand up on her shoulder. “But hey, you’re a great shot out of all of us for getting on both boards next semester. Only the dream team here have managed to do that so far. And your impact is felt. Look up there,” Jasper gestured to the left side of the board. “We are doing great, and it’s because of you. The only reason we aren’t second is because India and Terra got some lucky wins against Lina and I early in the year.”

Gale looked unconvinced at the last statement, but had her head held up a little higher now.

“Lucky? I don’t know about that, look how high they are up on that list!” She turned her face towards him, a small smile touching the edges of her lips. “But the nerd saved his best until last. Well done on the test results, Jasper. India and Terra can’t take that away from you.”

Any further attempt at conversation was cut off, as Professor Ozpin took the stage at the front of the room.

“Congratulations to all students for finishing your first semester at Beacon Academy, particularly to Team CFVY for their wonderful efforts in both class and on the battlefield. Well done, Ms Adel, on her prowess in combat, and Ms Scarlatina for her outstanding results this semester.”

The headmaster adjusted his glasses, and immediately changed tone.

“As there is no Vytal Festival this year, and no tournament as a result, we have decided on a different method to sharpen your skills in unfamiliar territories and against unfamiliar opponents. After discussion with General Ironwood, we will begin next semester with a two-week excursion to Atlas Academy, to train using their highly advanced training facilities and to train against other students. This will also allow us to pick up other equipment which will help improve our own facilities.”

Lina frowned. Why wait until next semester? She would have thought it would be better to upgrade them while students were away on their break. Nearby, Nero was having similar thoughts.

“Seems a bit hard to squeeze it in with all the students and teachers” he mentioned quietly, and Jasper and Gale nodded their own heads slightly. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just send them over on a transport ship?”

“I don’t think it’s been done before, or at least not recently” said Jasper. “Maybe they are still working out the logistics.”

The speech was over almost as soon as it began, and the students began to filter out, many towards the dorms to pack for the semester break holiday. Jasper started to follow them, but remembered something and lingered behind to speak with the professor.

“How’s your friend Amber going? Is she going to be up and about for the Winter Festival?”

Professor Ozpin tapped his cane on the floor a few times. “No, sadly. She’s recovering, but won’t be around in time for the festival. She was hurt quite badly by those fiends… but she’ll be all right soon enough.”

“Oh, that’s unfortunate. Well, I hope you have a good break, professor!”

“Break?” said the headmaster, smiling a little. “The work never stops for me, Mr Glass.”

“Ah, I guess not, with all this school to take care of.”

After the conversation, Jasper strode towards the dorms himself, thinking about what Ozpin had said. He had tried to be polite and make some informal small talk now that classes were finished, and maybe get some answers about that weird situation at the same time. But now his unthinking, seemingly trivial question had received a very unexpected answer, which just planted more confusion in his mind.

It was three months since Ozpin had burst into Professor Goodwitch’s office in front of him, and Jasper couldn’t think of any injury that would keep someone immobile for that length of time. Torn ligaments and broken legs might take longer to heal, but at least you could get around on crutches or a wheelchair. And what did all right mean? Professor Ozpin had said that last time, and it was three months later now with seemingly the same language. It didn’t sound like someone who had been bed bound for three months would have feel no long-lasting effects, like she would be back at work as a huntress, he assumed, in no time at all.

He turned down the first-year’s hall and entered the third door on the left, where Nero, Lina and Gale were already busy stuffing their suitcases. Perhaps he was reading a bit too much into it. There could have been complications, mental treatment, anything, really. It was stupid to not believe the headmaster than for no other reason than the situation was a little different to the norm. And it wasn’t really his business anyway, probing about into someone else’s private life, and trying to dissect what Ozpin had said, to see if it all matched up.

It didn’t have anything to do with him.


	11. Volume 0 Chapter 10: Out in the Open

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Semester break leads the team in different directions, with the ever-spontaneous Gale staying with Lina and her worried upper-class parents while Nero confronts his parents about his past. The team and assorted relatives meet up at the Winter Festival, with Lina finally getting one back over her older sister. Ozpin arranges for Qrow to look after Amber while they are away in Atlas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad.  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Transcript 1: Homeless

“Two weeks? That doesn’t feel like much.”

“They don’t want us to get rusty, Gale. That’s why we have a longer mid-semester break to make up for it.” 

“I know, Lina, but I wish it was longer. I can’t go and visit my family until the summer.”

Lina looked up at the shiny steel posts and platforms around the bus station, with departing students covering the platform like ants covering a jam sandwich.

“You’re out at Hammerhead Point, aren’t you?” she said as airbus after airbus flew overhead and into the station.

‘Yeah, on the south coast of Sanus, a few hundred kilometres from the Vacuo border. But since the kingdom of Vale is in the north-east, it takes nearly four days to get there by train, and that’s without Grimm stoppages.”

“Rough.”

“I’d love to take you there” said Gale, becoming more animated. “It’s right next to the beach, but on an inlet so it’s too shallow for most large sea Grimm. The river and valley which feed into the inlet give some protection to the town, so it’s much bigger and livelier than most other settlements outside the kingdom. It’s a bit like Argus, but it feels like a small Vale. There’s a spot just outside…”

Gale stopped elaborating on her favourite hometown haunts as Airbus M35 docked in bay 6. Lina and Gale stepped on and it lifted off, edging past the cliff and towards Moss Grove where Lina’s family lived.

“I’m sorry, I should be letting you tell me about your place. I haven’t been to many of the eastern suburbs, or really many at all since I’ve been in Vale.”

“Oh it’s not that much different to the rest of the city, except we have a better view of some of the mountains, and there’s a few less shady side streets. Most of the upper class and stuck up people live here, and I guess they care more about that sort of stuff than others. I know my folks do.”

Gale squeezed Lina with her long arms, while Lina, used to this kind of treatment by now, tried to ignore her.

“Thanks for letting me stay with you during the break. I know some people keep living at the school full time, but I couldn’t bear to be by myself.”

Lina fidgeted a little. “Most people in the eastern suburbs aren’t as touchy-feely as you, just keep that in mind.”

“I thought you said your parents cried and practically begged you not to leave.”

“Yeah, but they’re parents, Gale. I bet yours did the same.”

“You’re not wrong.”

\------

Nero wished he had somebody to keep him company as he left Cherryton Station and the airbus took off back over his head. The girls had taken off together, and Jasper, kitted out in his usual green and red tails, had fist-bumped him and wished him good luck, which made Nero suspect his leader had figured out what he planned to do.

Didn’t make it any easier though, thought Nero. Having Jasper or even one of the girls to back him up would help, but it probably would have made it more awkward anyway. It wasn’t their fight.

It suddenly occurred to Nero that he might have no idea where he was going. He had only tried to contact his parents once in the three years he was gone, through a cousin in Vacuo who had kept his location a secret. There was every chance they might have upped sticks and moved, particularly since his father had moved back in less than a year before Nero left.

It was with a huge sense of relief, but also apprehension, that he found his mother’s car still parked in the old driveway, behind a blue one. Which meant he was here as well, thought Nero. He tensed involuntarily, then steeled himself and knocked twice on the red door. It still had all the old marks, the gash from a flying spanner when his dad was working on the car just before he left, the crack down the bottom when he had run his toy truck into it, and a few new marks, which must have been made while he was gone.  
The handle turned and a scruffy-looking man opened the door, slightly shorter than Nero himself, with a slight beer belly and the same bouncy golden-blonde hair. His eyebrows shot up in astonishment.

“Blazing blind worms!” he nearly shouted. “Is that really you, Nero?”

“It is” replied Nero cautiously, not knowing what to expect. “Hello, dad.”

“My goodness, you’re practically a man now, you’ve even got a bit of a beard going on there.” He reached out towards Nero’s chin, and Nero drew back a little. The hand paused, frozen in time as it reached back through the years, and the two shared an uncomfortable silence.

“It’s been a while, dad” he managed to squeeze out.

“Of course. Come in, Nero.”

“Who’s that at the door, Rufus?” came a voice from behind the stairwell, and Nero’s heart jumped. His mother.

“A very special visitor, Cassie” came the reply as they walked through the doorway. Cassia August’s tired face appeared around the corner, but instantly sparked into life as she saw father and son side by side.

“Nero! My boy! I…”

She got no further as she buried her face in his black tunic. Nero held her gingerly and took a step towards the table to sit down. Once extricated from his shoulder, she let forth a barrage of questions.

“Where have you been? What are those things on your belt? Why didn’t you let us know?”

“One at a time, one at a time, mum” protested Nero, then paused. “It’s good to see you again.”

He ran his eyes over the wooden countertops and pondered what he should say next. It had been so long since he had gone away to Vacuo. What had changed since then? Were they still the same people he left? Nero knew he certainly wasn’t.

His dad crossed his fingers and stared at him from across the table. “So why did you leave, son?”

“Before you came back, dad, mum was had to try and take on both roles as parent. But then she changed. She began doing the very things she chased you away for.” He turned towards a stunned Cassia. “And let you come back.”

“That’s simply not true, Nero” she gasped.

“It’s easy to forget what happens when there’s a bottle involved. It got worse when both of you were here, and I didn’t know what to do. At least it looks like that’s not the case now.”

His father peered at him in a mix of anger yet also regret. “It was only a few times, Nero, but that’s still too many. It shouldn’t have happened.”  
“Thank you,” said Nero. “That means a lot. Maybe it was only a few times, with either you or mum. It seems like a lot more, when you live in fear. That’s probably what unlocked my semblance.”

“What is your semblance? I didn’t know it the last time I saw you.”

“Essentially torture.”

“Right.”

More silence. It was terrifying, yet wonderful. His parents were actually listening to what he was pouring out to them, and he knew it meant he at least had a leg to stand on in this argument.

“Well,” a slightly teary Cassia said. “I hope you found a better way to use it training in Vacuo.”

The hairs on Nero’s neck pricked up suddenly. How did she know that? His clothes were a giveaway, he knew, but what of the rest?

“Your cousin, Roman, told us more than he may have let on” explained Rufus, seeing the startled look in his eyes. “But he respected your privacy and still never told us exactly where you were, no matter how much we tried to convince him. Eventually, we stopped trying. He let us know you were safe, at least.”

Nero couldn’t fault him for that. He probably would have done the same.

His dad gestured to Draw and Quarter, hanging like shining spools of wire on Nero’s belt. “He tells us you are pretty handy with those. Would keep yourself pretty safe that way, I imagine.”

“Pretty much. Although in the desert you never know.”

“Honey, we thought you weren’t coming back” whispered Cassia. “It had been so long, and the desert is such a big place.”

“The thing is mum… I’m not exactly planning to stay.”

This was the moment it could all go wrong, Nero knew. He hadn’t wanted to drop that bomb so early on, but if there was one thing he had learned while he was gone, it was that things didn’t always go to plan. He had to be adaptable, here and now, just like he would in a fight, or out in the desert.

“When it was just us, we were forced to learn to be very independent. Leaving just forced me to continue, so I went to Vacuo, where self-sufficiency is encouraged and further strengthened.” He tentatively put his hand out and touched hers. “I’m nearly eighteen. In a normal world, I’m not that far from leaving home already, and I have the experience to help with that process. I’m sorry I stole those years from you, I really am. So I’m here for the next best thing. To apologise for leaving the way I did, and to repair that connection. Or at least, to try.”

Nero leaned back, head spinning a little. Three and a half years, summarised into thirty seconds. He had tried and tried to do that in his head ever since he had made his way back from Vacuo, and now it just popped out.

Cassia leaned in. “We were hoping you would, even if it does mean you aren’t staying with us. I don’t blame you too much I suppose, since it was us that made you choose to leave in the first place. We have tried to improve, darling, for your sake, and even if we aren’t perfect, we still want to have that relationship.”  
“So how are we doing so far?” asked Rufus huskily.

Nero gathered himself a little and looked around. No alcohol to be seen. His mother’s ashtray remained, and his dad still wouldn’t apologise directly, but at least admitted he was in the wrong. There were still a lot of things to clear the air with, but overall, a definite improvement from what he had seen last time, and since the start of the conversation. He smiled a little, and finally the unbearable air of tension began to ease.

“It’s a good start.”

Transcript 2: Weather event

“It’s fabulous to meet you, Mr and Mrs Lavender!”

The energetic handshake and animated attitude were not exactly reciprocated by the duo, who eyed Gale with a certain amount of nervous anticipation.

“This is the girl who you mentioned?” whispered Skye Lavender to her daughter. “She seems a bit… sensational.” 

“Every night I rang I told you she was a livewire, surely you took it into consideration?”

“Well maybe not every night…”

But it didn’t matter. Like her namesake weather event, the Gale had already descended on the Lavender household, and nothing in her path would be spared.

“Books!” shrilled the whirlwind, dissecting the pile on the living room coffee table. “I knew you got your taste from somewhere.”

“Show you my room, Gale?” pleaded Lina, practically pushing her inside and away from the tantalising objects to be investigated. A rich green room greeted them, with large silver curtains partially obscuring a window to the wooden deck out the back. In the far corner lay a double bunkbed with soft blue flowery patterns covering the quilts. A study desk and large row of bookshelves took up most of the other wall, with a television in the corner opposite the bed. It was too much for an already excited Gale, and a wild glint came into her eyes as she spied the bunk beds.

“Quiet!” Lina whispered frantically, as Gale’s mouth began to open. “My parents only barely agreed to have you over, and I think you’ve spooked them as it is.”

“Oohhhhhhh, but Lina!” gushed Gale. “You have bunk beds!”

“I’m glad you like them… but I told my parents you were… bouncy and fun… and they didn’t seem to realise what that meant. In my family, I'M considered bouncy and fun, they are all very serious and professional people. They should have prepared better, given what I told them, but please try to keep it to a dull roar, ok?”

“Well… alright…” said Gale, reining herself in and looking a little embarrassed. “You do have a lot of cool stuff through, Lina.”

Now it was Lina’s turn to feel embarrassed, as she realised she had been making light of her quite extensive possessions. Her family was quite well off, with her closest relatives being a successful lawyer, accountant and newsreader. Someone else, especially from outside the kingdom where they fought tooth and nail for every resource, might well be surprised, let alone someone like Gale.

“Thanks. I’m sorry I hushed you up like that, it was a bit sudden.” She turned her head back towards the door. “Let’s introduce you to my parents again, we’ll try and get started on the right foot.”

The four gathered around the small dining room table, with Gale towering over the tiny figure of Lina and her not quite as vertically challenged parents. There was a certain confusion in the air over what had happened, and an uncertainty over where the conversation was going next.

“Mum, dad, this is my teammate Gale Grigia. You might think I’m crazy and adventurous for learning to become a Huntress, but she lives and breathes adventure. I’m pretty sure she could stare death in the face and laugh at it, not out of spite, but because it was a hoot and a new experience. She has taught me that there is a time to be cool and level-headed, and a time to enjoy yourself, and has shown great perception in actively switching between the two. If you’re ready to share a smile and maybe deal with a bit of physical affection, I think you’ll like her.”

Gale put her wrists on the table and leaned forward, her brown eyes a picture of appreciation and genuine interest in her hosts. “Thank you, Mr and Mrs Lavender, for letting me stay here for these two weeks, and I’m sorry you got to see my worst side first up. I think I’ll be happy here, and I hope I’ll make it so you’ll be happy to have me.”

The Lavenders were somewhat bewildered with this sudden turn of events, and were struggling to adjust to the change in pace. Lina’s dad was the first to recover.

“A pleasure to meet you, Gale. Where do you hail from? Lina explained that it was a long way from Vale, so it would be better to stay here.”

“Born and raised in Hammerhead Point.”

“That’s quite a trip.”

“It’s three and a half days, plus stoppages. So unless you are planning something big to come into Vale, the Grimm generally keep you in the valley. It would be a big effort to go there and back in two weeks.”

“I had a few clients from that area recently” said Asher Lavender, beginning to settle more into the conversation. “Do you know the Algren family?”

“Yes! I love the Algrens, my little cousin is best friends with their youngest. Their grandma recently passed, poor guys; I suppose that’s where you probably came in?”

Lina envied Gale’s ability to fit in at times like this. For a girl of such extremes, she certainly adjusted well to the simpler side of life, and the incredible lack of interest conversations like this held. Perhaps this was another extreme in itself. Whatever it was, Lina knew she had to tip the conversation elsewhere before she died of boredom.

“Will anyone from Hammerhead Point come to the Winter Festival?” she inquired innocently.

Gale lit up once again. “A few do, especially some of the weapon makers and combat students. It’s the best chance of the year to meet some real Huntsmen and Huntresses, rather than half-trained ones which mostly just clear Grimm and teach students to defend themselves.”

“Is that why you wanted to be a Huntress? Did you meet someone that inspired you?” asked Skye. “Lina knew early on that she wanted to because of the challenge and the adventure.”

And because it was the best way to break out of the boring family mould, thought Lina.

“Yes! That’s why I came to Beacon, a few years back I met a newly graduated Huntress named Amber at the festival. She told me she wanted to make the world a better place, but I was more interested in her amazing fighting skills and the thrill of being able to do something like that if I trained hard enough. Close to what Lina wanted, I guess, but more for the thrill and less for the achievement.”

“Funny,” frowned Lina. “I remember seeing her too. She was championing Beacon Academy, the only one making an effort to engage and encourage people to be Huntresses. There were other Huntsmen and Huntresses there but they were there more for the celebrations. I haven’t seen her since that year.”

“We should see if she’s there this time!” said Gale.

Yessss, thought Lina. “We should unpack, and head on over to there this afternoon after lunch. Might be able to introduce our other teammates or some friends and give you an idea of what we learned so far.”

“Well… I suppose…”

Her dad didn’t really know how to handle this development. He spent his time fixing up problems and legal battles and wasn’t as accustomed to watching real battles pan out.  
“We need to practise!” declared Gale, jumping up from her seat and walking out towards the veranda, revealing Sharp Shooting on her back.

“That’s a big sword, dear” said Skye nervously. “She hasn’t hurt you with that before, has she?”

“Wait until you see Yatsuhashi’s. And yes, sometimes, but we train our Aura to protect ourselves from things like that.”

“It’s… not very reassuring.”

“Mum, I both own a machine gun and have been shot by one, what the hell are you worried about?”

Transcript 3: Birds of a feather

“If I’d known it was parent’s day, I would have brought mine along too!” jibed Jasper as he met up with the rest of Team JNGL.

“Oh shut up Jasper, it’s only two of us” snapped Lina. “I didn’t even know what Nero’s plans were.”

Rain had thwarted the girls attempt at getting a head start on the festival activities the day before and they had spent much of the night with Lina’s parents getting to know each other. Gale had somehow managed to restrain herself for most of that time, but was getting back to her normal self as the group banded together, and Lina worried that her wicked sense of humour would soon insert itself.

As Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, they were able to flash their student identification to security and skip the line, and were waiting around for the Augusts and the Lavenders to finish passing through the gates. The main streets were closed off for the day and an abundance of stalls had popped up overnight, most coloured white or blue Winter Festival shades.

“There’s your sister over there Lina,” said Nero, pointing to a black podium and tent just being assembled. “Setting up to report on the day’s activities by the look of it.”

“Do NOT interrupt her, she takes her job very seriously” said Lina. “Even though I wish she wasn’t so cold about it.”

“But look, she’s spotted us, and I think she’s finished for now. Let’s go and wait over there with her.”

“I’ll meet you guys there, I’m gonna grab some liquorice straps.” said Gale, eying off the sugary treats.

She lined up at the stall as the others dashed off to meet the famous news presenter, Lina protesting strongly as she was carried along with the two boys. To her surprise, as she finished her purchase she turned to see two blond strangers waiting for her.

“You must be Gale,” said Rufus August. “Nero has told us all about you. Do you know where he has gone?”

“Oh, hello Mr and Mrs August!” she gushed, pointing towards the group. “Nero’s gone over there with the group, I’ll come along with you.”

The group had formed a small circle, with Lisa Lavender and Nero with their backs to them as Gale walked up on them.

“Nero! There you are! These must be your friends who you told us about” exclaimed Cassia as she reached the group with the two others. She looked into the face of Lisa, who had turned to see the newcomers, and extended her hand. “Nice to meet you, Lina.”

A peculiar expression came over the newsreader’s face as she slowly grasped the offered hand. “I… think you must be looking for my sister.”

A look of utter horror came over Cassia August’s face as she recognised who she was speaking to. “Oh no, I’m so sorry! I thought you looked familiar, I must have confused you from my son’s photos!”

Lina looked like she was about to go into hysterics as Lisa quickly excused herself and returned to the production set. The whole team was stunned into silence, before a wide-eyed Lina looked up to face Gale.

“How did you pull that off, Gale?” she squeaked in a high-pitched voice. “How?”

“I didn’t! I only said to Mrs August that Nero was over here with the others, I promise!”

“How?” she said in a distinct wobble.

“But I never… well...”

Then the wobble gave way to a full belly laugh and Lina collapsed on the ground, tears streaming down her face. It was a very surprised duo which walked up on this scene, seeing their daughter writhing on the ground in ecstasy.

“She… she thought it was me! Did you see the look on her face? She had no idea what to do!” cried Lina as she sat back up and saw her parents. Ignoring them, she gave a perplexed but also highly amused Gale a massive hug. “You’ve made my day, Gale. No one has EVER mistaken Lisa for me before.”

“I will admit,” said Asher Lavender. “It’s usually the other way around. But please do behave yourself, Lina, we’re not exactly the only ones here.”

“But don’t you see?” implored Lina. “How is this any different? I can’t even count how many times I have been humiliated in public because people have asked me for a picture, thinking I was someone else. I would take this type of embarrassment even if there were a thousand people watching me.”

Brushing the dust off her combat skirt, she turned and addressed Cassia and Rufus.

“I don’t hold anything against you for what you said, Mrs August. It’s hard sometimes, being related to such a well-known face. Breaking free from that by coming to Beacon is a big reason why I’m friends with your son and Jasper and Gale in the first place.” Lina returned to her mum and dad. “Sorry if I embarrassed you, it wasn’t my intention. Let’s go and enjoy the festival.”

A tall figure in grey watched them go, his red cape fluttering slightly in the gentle breeze wisping through the streets. A buzzing came from his belt, and he reached past a large segmented sword on his belt, picking up his scroll to reveal Ozpin’s face.

“Hey,”

“Hello Qrow, how are you doing down there at the festival? Seen anything out of the ordinary?”

“Not much” continued the Huntsman in a gravelly voice. “It’s pretty quiet down here, other than a pipsqueak news presenter getting offended. Seems to think one of your teams pulled some sort of stunt on her.”

“They aren’t bothering people are they?”

“No, no, it’s the one with her sister in it, just your regular family discourse.”

Ozpin sounded relieved. “I’m glad that’s the case. I thought somebody might try something during this festival. There’s still a few days left, anything could happen.”

Qrow took a swig from his hip-flask and continued, waving the flask about in a small figure of eight. “I hope you’re wrong, but it’s starting to get pretty boring down here.”

“I know. But given what has been happening lately, first with Amber and then the griffon attack earlier this year, I think she might be starting a full on attack on Vale sometime very soon.”

“You really think it’s Salem?”

“It has all the hallmarks of it. I’ve seen it before. But not quite this extreme. And with so many civilians in the one place, not to mention students and other Huntsmen and Huntresses, it would seem the perfect opportunity to strike again. So be vigilant.”

“Alright then,” said Qrow, draining the last of the alcohol. “Talk to you later. I’ll let you get on with your preparations with Amber.” He strode over to the beer-tasting stall for a refill, his third already for the day.

High up in Beacon Tower, Ozpin watched the masses seeping through the streets down in Vale, like so many grains of rice pouring into a bag. Behind him, Glynda Goodwitch looked over from beside Amber’s new bed and medical gear, which had been delivered secretly at the beginning of the holidays.

“It’s all put together now” commented the tall Huntress. “Do you think she’s sleeping any better?”

“It’s hard to tell” replied Ozpin from the window. “She looks more relaxed, but she’s still unconscious.”

“Ozpin,” said Glynda, rising from her stool. “General Ironwood is sending us all this equipment, but it’s like pouring water on sand, there’s hardly any difference at all. In a few weeks, we are going to Atlas to get a top-secret piece of military and scientific equipment, but I still don’t know whether that’s going to be enough. Now, answer me truthfully, Ozpin.”

He met her steely gaze, and nodded .

“Do you think she will ever wake up?”


	12. Part 2: New Experiences | Chapter 11: Living in the Clouds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JNGL gets to know Team AKKH, and get up to mischief on the trip to Atlas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad.  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Transcript 1: Planned Absence

“I can’t believe it’s already over!” moaned Lina as she filled her suitcase. “It’s like it never even happened!”

“Now you’re just copying!” smirked Gale, flinging uniforms, coat hangers and assorted woolly clothes onto her bed. “I said at the beginning of the break that two weeks would fly by.”

“Yeah, especially with you around. Never a dull moment.”

“I still don’t think your sister really forgave me for what happened the festival. She looked at me very frostily each time she visited.”

“And now you don’t have to worry about her,” chimed in Jasper from the other side of the dorm room. “Not when we’re off to Atlas, across the other side of the world! Oh, and speaking of that, don’t forget to bring a few things to keep entertained, travelling to the other end of Remnant is quite a long trip.”

“Not for meeeeeeee!” trilled Gale, a veteran of the train between Vale and her hometown of Hammerhead Point. “You guys will just have to put up with my standard!”

“And your Gale-ness,” said Nero, smiling. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you get bored, except the first lesson we ever had with Professor Port.”

“That’s because I wasn’t expecting it, Nero” said the pile of flying clothes. “You can make something out of anything if you are ready for it.”

A thousand decisions and a few bouts of Lina’s muttered swearing later, the group finally managed to stuff everything into four bulging suitcases and locked the door behind them. Team AKKH was waiting for them in the hallway.

“Hey!” said a shock of blonde hair. “Have you guys heard about the living arrangements on the transport ship yet?”

Jasper smiled and looked up at his fellow team leader. “Hi Amazon, no we haven’t. Care to fill us in?”

“Well,” she began, twirling her jade staff. “There are fifty beds on the airship with blocks of eight per room, plus an extra two for the pilot rotation. Team MAJE and CFVY have already bunked in together, so we thought we would ask if you’d like to be with us?”

“That sounds great!” responded Jasper, turning to his teammates. “What do you guys think?”

A chorus of agreement came from their lips, and both teams trundled down the hall in the direction of the military landing pad, dragging comically stuffed suitcases towards the airship. The huge size of the vehicle was noteworthy in of itself, but a further surprise greeted the first-years once they reached the inside.

“Oh no, they expect us to learn here as well?” groaned Oliver Crumb of Team TOPZ (topaz) as he saw the rows of benches laid out in the central platform.

“Nothing wrong with a little freshen-up while we fly, Mr Crumb” said an amused Professor Ozpin, seeing the shocked expression on Oliver’s face after being caught out. “The trip takes two days, and while we can’t exactly train while on the flight, you can’t sit around all day doing nothing. A Huntsman always strives to learn from his surroundings, no matter what they are. As Dr Oobleck informs me, that includes learning IN his current surroundings, so I will be continuing his history lessons while we are away.”

“I didn’t know you taught history, Professor Ozpin” said a surprised Harley Hayze from beside Jasper.

The professor smiled. “As both a Huntsman and as headmaster, I am well qualified across a range of subjects, including but not limited to history. Dr Oobleck insists this next topic I will be presenting will be vital towards your development, and is especially relevant seeing as we are already going to Atlas.”

The students were separated into groups of eight and assigned their room number by Glynda Goodwitch, who had appeared just as suddenly as the headmaster. As the students dispersed, they pondered what they might learn over the coming days.

“First day we stop at Argus before going over to Atlas,” said Nero as Jasper, Gale, Lina, Amazon, Plum, Knight and Harley followed him into Room 3. “I bet it will have something to do with that, or else just Atlas after the war.”

But unlike the others, a wide-eyed girl with grey hair wasn’t listening to what Nero was saying. Designed as a carrier ship designed for military transport, the room layouts prioritised efficiency and use of space to reduce unnecessary weight. Which only meant one thing.

“Bunk beds…”

“Gale, no!”

\-----

With the students safely in their rooms to unpack, and not due out for another hour for the history lesson, Professor Ozpin made his move. Unseen by the rest of the crew on the ship, he carefully made his way down the gangplank back towards the school. In the shadows of a nearby lecture hall, Qrow stood waiting for him.

“Are you sure you’re gonna be right with all those students on board?” Qrow folded his arms and looked over at the ship. “Those pipsqueaks love asking questions you know” he drawled.

“They have already been told we are bringing back equipment for the school, which is true. Ironwood’s stasis chamber will just be among the rest of it, it’s inconspicuous in plain sight.”

“They haven’t asked why it’s coming on board in the first place and hasn’t just been sent over?”

“Not yet, but it’s more convenient to bring it back with us than have a whole another ship deliver it. There’s also a chance that it would have been intercepted.”

Qrow grunted. “Not as convenient for them. It’s cramped enough in those things as it is.”

“Good enough for what we need. If it can help Amber, it will be worth it.”

“We’ll see. I still don’t think she’s gonna wake up from this one, you know.”

Ozpin sighed and tapped his cane on the ground. “Neither does Glynda. But we have to try. Thank you for agreeing to take care of her.”

Qrow snorted and pulled out his hip flask once again and spread his arms dramatically. “Working for you doesn’t always mean big scary surveillance missions. And you’ll only be gone for what, two weeks? It’s not that big of a deal, you know.” He raised the container to his lips.

“If anything changes at all – anything – let us know immediately. It’s a very precarious situation. We don’t know who her last thoughts were of, or if she’s still aware under those eyelids. Things are building, Qrow and if the power goes to her attacker, that’s the last thing we need right now.”

“What, you really think one Griffon attack means the world is gonna end tomorrow? I know she’s making things, Oz, terrible things, but I haven’t seen any of it in Vale.”

Ozpin adjusted his glasses. “The spring maiden went missing ten years ago, and we haven’t heard from her since. It’s possible that she found her.”

“Or maybe not.”

“And Grimm are becoming stronger, more prevalent. The White Fang are becoming more vocal, and are even beginning to raid dust stores to make a statement. I can’t help wondering if someone’s stirring them up.”

Qrow emptied the last of the alcohol down his throat. “You worry too much, Oz. There’s always unrest somewhere.”

“When you have millennia of experience, you get a sense for these things, and I can’t help but worry. You probably think it’s more normal because of the things that always happen around you with your Misfortune.”

Qrow sighed and looked up at Beacon Tower. “Maybe you’re right Oz. Maybe. But for now, I’m going to focus on the task at hand. After Amber’s safe, then we can focus on how to deal with whatever may not be coming next. Maybe I can get some more intel.”

“That sounds like a very good idea.”

“By the way,” said Qrow, his cape fluttering has he turned to leave. “Where did you end up putting the crown? If it’s not in the vault, isn’t it a little exposed?”  
“Somewhere very safe. No one will ever find it, at least not until this whole ordeal has died down.”

“Are you going to tell me where it is?”

Ozpin stared deeply into his friend’s red eyes.

“No.”

Transcript 2: Pillow Talk

“And that’s why Harley wears those sunglasses” explained Knight Hayze.

Harley shifted uncomfortably. “It was only an eye infection.”

“Yeah, but now it’s all yellow,” prodded his twin. “And it has stayed that way since he was six!  
”  
“Give us a look!” pleaded Gale, with the rest of Team JNGL looking on eagerly.

“Yeah, come on!” grinned Lina. “We’ll bound to see it sooner or later bunked up together like this.”

Harley looked at her, seemingly with a twinkle in his eye, or rather his sunglasses. “Alright.” He said. “But only if you answer my question.”

“What’s that?” queried Nero.

“Do you brush your fox tail? Does it moult?”

A muffled gasp went around the room at such a probing demand, while Lina sat with a serious expression on her face.

“That’s two questions…”

“Same thing.”

A stiflingly long pause screamed through the room as Lina thought furiously.

“Deal.”

Loud whoops came from the rest both sides, particularly JNGL’s, as they had seen neither, and stood to gain two reveals at no risk to themselves.  
“Alright, alright, calm down. Since I agreed, you go first.”

Harley dutifully revealed the discoloured organ for the others to pore over, and after a short wait he snapped the sunglasses up again.

“Now you, Lina.”

She looked about a little uncertainly, then rolled her eyes and decided it wasn’t the end of the world.

“Yes. And yes.”

Stunned expressions flooded onto Team JNGL’s faces as they learned this about their teammate.

“But how did you keep it a secret for a whole semester?” asked an amazed Jasper.

Lina pulled the familiar black aura projectiles from her body and began throwing them at her teammates as an equally surprised AKKH looked on, having only seen her semblance in combat a handful of times.

“The only time I brush it is when it IS moulting, Jasper! You nosy parkers will have to wait until summer before that happens! There, now you’ve had a biology lesson as well as a history lesson today!”

Exasperated at Jasper’s constant dodging, she put her hand back and grasped behind her for another weapon. Finding nothing except her pillow, she launched the fluffy object towards Jasper’s amused face. He blocked it with ease, and the pillow plopped harmlessly onto the bed in front of him.

“You know, Lina” said Gale, picking up the fallen object. “If you are going to use something as soft as that, you have to throw it HARDER!”

A nearly supersonic blur of white grew in Jasper’s vision and clapped him on the cheek, sending him sprawling across the tiny room. Coughing and blowing out feathers, he reached across the floor to return fire, but met with a storm of new pillows and was buried underneath the pile.

“I think that got him?” observed Plum, holding the last pillow on Team AKKH’s side of the room.

“Hey, use your own!” cried Amazon, snatching it back from her teammate and bashing it on top of her head.

The room descended into a flurry of white, punctuated by irregular thuds like some erratic drummer lay hidden inside the building.

“Pillow fight!” yelled Yarrow Floss as Team SYLC passed by, and more heads poked outside the surrounding rooms and more raced past to join the fray. Even Team CFVY joined in, with a distinguished and sensible Coco snapping and dealing deadly blows when a stray pillow crushed her beret, and Yatsuhashi dealing deadly blows to clear a path to the centre of the writhing mass. The fight spilled out into the adjoining hallway, and as numbers continued to grow, so too did the casualties. Aside from Coco’s beret, Harley’s glasses lay crushed on the floor, Zelda Prentice received a bruised tailbone after tripping over some luggage, and Hunter Anstone’s bandana was nowhere to be seen.

The feathers abruptly ceased to fly when all the pillows soared upwards and assembled in a pile overhead. Glynda Goodwitch stood by, her arm raised, wearing a frown all the way from her glasses to tip of her crop.

“The pilots kindly ask that you refrain from these activities. You’re rocking the whole west wing, and interfering with the ship’s flight calculations.”

Once released, the students sheepishly gathered up their bedding and headed off to their respective sides of the ship, all the while under the harsh glare of the tall huntress. Ozpin appeared by her side and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t look so stern, Glynda.”

“How can they be so carefree about this trip? It’s a serious training exercise.”

“They aren’t feeling the same tension we are right now. And they’re only young. The trip to Atlas may be a serious one for the students, and also for us, but it’s a long way to travel. They’re bound to make certain compensations.”

Glynda sighed. “It’s not even the end of the first day.”

A smile twitched across Ozpin’s face. “Time often passes faster than you think” he said. “Out of anyone, I should know that.”

\------

“When will we see Atlas?”

“Depends if there’s any fog up that high.”

“We should be able to see it in the next few minutes, according to Pilot Burns.”

The first-years pressed towards the front of the ship to catch the first glimpse of the famously spectacular floating city, much like they had when the airship took them over the cliffs on their first day at Beacon. Although similar in nature, the sight was even more famed than that of the academy and soaring tower back in Vale. It wasn’t every day you saw an entire city floating above than the clouds.

A few of the students however, particularly the Faunus constituent, while marvelling at the city above, were drawn to the dimmer browns and yellow coming from below. All had learned the horrors which Faunus and some lower class citizens had endured even within the last one hundred years, but it really hit home for those who had experienced some of the discrimination first-hand. Velvet Scarlatina was looking down at Mantle for a different reason. She already knew what life in the sky was like, at least for the Atlesian scientist, having spent a month there last summer with her father, William. She had been mostly sheltered from the goings on down below, surrounded by white and steel and military funding. Working with one of General Ironwood’s top scientists had helped her avoid most of the derogatory comments, but this time around she couldn’t help but feel it wouldn’t be so cosy, especially around other Atlesian students and down around Mantle.

Coco snapped Velvet out of her contemplations.

“Hey, if we’re training with the Atlas students, we’ll be able to catch up with Vega Bleu! You remember her from Pharos?”

Velvet shook her head. “Vega? I remember her but didn’t really have much to do with her.”

“You didn’t have much to do with ME before Beacon.”

“True.”

The ship drew closer and rose higher still until they could look down on the floating island. The whole city seemed oriented around the academy, blending in around the base in sweeping arcs leading to the top of the mountain on which the academy lay. Lina thought the two semicircular patches of farmland made the whole city look rather like a giant fish. Not that it meant anything of course, or took away from the splendour of Atlas as a whole.

Suddenly realising they would be landing soon, some students who had not prepared earlier rushed towards their rooms to repack their belongings, and stood harried and breathing heavily as the doors opened to let them down the ramp. But the students at the front stopped short, drawing their breath in surprise as Professor Ozpin extended his hand towards the famous figure.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, General.”

“Likewise, professor.”

General Ironwood led the way across the large concrete courtyard where many Atlas students were doing exercises, and the large central building of the academy loomed ahead, seemingly much taller than even Beacon Tower. It was all very stylish and extravagant to the wide-eyed first years, or at least most of them. Some of the teams, however, had different ideas.

“Its all very… regimented” commented Amazon to Team JNGL. “Even the building looks military-like.”

Jasper nodded. “That’s what you get when you combine the army and the huntsman academies, especially with someone like General Ironwood at the helm.”

“It’s completely the opposite to Vacuo” said Nero. “It’s like they’re out of a mould, not individuals who fight for their own way in the world.”

“They’re looking at us!” hissed Ally Teal, as Velvet and Lina fell under the gaze of some of the closer Atlesian students.

Never did those Faunus students feel more acutely aware of their animal characteristics. Although maybe not as openly discriminatory as some places in Mistral, the segregation of most Faunus to the slums below in Mantle still weighed heavily on their minds. Even though many Faunus students had graduated in the past, and though the visitors were authorized to be up there, the atmosphere of history and of the Atlesian students made them feel decidedly unwelcome up in this shining symbol of a city.

Many of the other Vale students also felt the tension in the atmosphere.

“Looks like we’re going to be in for an… interesting trip” thought Jasper.


	13. Volume 0 Chapter 12: All Class or No Class?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JNGL, CFVY, and the other first-year Beacon students experience their first few days in Atlas getting used to the strict militaristic style of the city in the clouds. Meanwhile, Ironwood tries to talk himself out of a tricky situation with Professor Ozpin to keep the PENNY project safe from discovery.

Transcript 1: Machine issues 

Safe to say, Gale’s enthusiasm perked up when she found that Atlas dorms too had bunks housed in the walls.

“Three times! Three times!” she had repeated to herself the night before as she claimed the top left bed and hoisted her suitcase up there before anyone could stop her. “I’ve never seen so many bunk beds in all my life!”

The next morning after what seemed like scarcely minutes of sleep, they were woken by the sound of a sharp ringing coming from behind the door.

“Is that… the bell?” blinked Nero.

“Stupid time zone differences” moaned Jasper. “Let’s get going.”

Many other dishevelled and hungry Valeians filtered into class that morning, having much like Team JNGL forgotten about the early start and the few hours difference between Atlas and Vale. Team CFVY however, sat resolute and upright in their chairs, and if Jasper could trust his blurry eyes, in a lot better condition than the others.

In contrast, the Atlas students were neatly dressed and ready to learn, although those sitting closer could see the thinly veiled disgust on their faces at the apparent incompetency of the visitors.

Glynda Goodwitch and Ozpin stepped onto the large podium at the front of the room with General Ironwood and a white-haired young Huntress, followed by a short, powerful man dressed in Atlas Academy uniform, who presumably was their lecturer to begin the morning. The general motioned him to take the lectern, and he immediately did so.

“Good morning, students.”

“Good morning, Dr Shale” boomed the response, making Gale and some of the other Valeians jump.

“As you are now well aware, today is your first day with the visiting Beacon students, who will continue with us for the remainder of this week and the next. Classwork will continue as normal, and the combat sessions will allow more regular access to the training facilities to allow you and the Beacon students to develop your skills against more unfamiliar opponents. I expect you to bring out the best Atlas has to offer towards the visiting students, and want you on your best behaviour.”

He turned towards the general and Professor Ozpin. “And now a word from the headmasters themselves” he said as Ozpin took up the position in front of the students.  
“Thank you for that warm welcome, Dr Shale” commended Professor Ozpin.

“Warm welcome?” Fox sent telepathically to his teammates. “It sounded like he wanted them to show us who’s boss!” They nodded in silent agreement.

“As there is no tournament this year, General Ironwood and I brought it upon ourselves to find a replacement for the fine-tuning of combat skills and cultural experiences unique to the Vytal Festival. The general graciously suggested that we could visit Atlas Academy and share your facilities to provide a similar learning experience. Although Mistral and Vacuo are not represented here, we hope that this experience brings a deeper connection between our two kingdoms than might be achieved with all four. As all second-year Beacon students and above have previously experienced the Vytal Festival in one or both of its previous iterations, only the first year students have accompanied us in this venture.”

And, thought Ozpin to himself, because they are less experienced and less likely to recognise undercover strategies like this one. Did I really just mention a ‘deeper connection’? So hypocritical.

General Ironwood took the stage as Ozpin finished speaking, and droned out another formal welcome to the students, at which point even the Atlas students began to look human and show their boredom with the formalities. They recovered somewhat when the lesson began, which was distinctily more technological and weaponry flavoured than the military strategy lessons given at Beacon. Then again, the visitors reminded themselves, Peter Port’s lesson structure wasn’t exactly typical, or structured whatsoever.

It was a surprise then, to find they felt like they had learned less than in one of his lessons than back at home.

“Did… we just learn that Professor Port’s extravagant and painstaking ramblings are actually… useful?” commented a flabbergasted Nero.

“I can’t believe it!” said a shocked Lina. “It felt like all that Dr Shale told us was point gun, shoot gun, back, forwards, reinforcements. At least Port’s have details.”

“The food’s better, though” munched Gale as she plowed through a pie. “A military might needs good grub to maintain that superiority complex twenty-four hours a day.”

A passing second year student opened her mouth to protest, but found no suitable comeback to that devastating blow, and kept walking.

\-------

“This machine, how exactly does it work?”

General Ironwood stood motionless inside the winter Maiden’s medical room, wondering how to frame his words to avoid mentioning the PENNY project.

“It was designed by our top scientists a few years ago to extract aura from a person’s body and feed it back to them at a stable level. As you know, a person can increase the amount of aura they have overtime if they train hard, while this removes that need. By removing a fraction of their aura for extended periods of time, it stimulates the body to generate more, and although painful, can assist the recovery process for major injuries quite remarkably once they have raised it high enough, and the remainder of their aura is given back to them on top of that.”

“That’s remarkable, James. Extracting aura? How did you manage to do something like that?”

“It took a long time, and a lot of experimentation to get it working properly.”

“Experimentation? I hope you haven’t been too hard on your scientists, James.”

Ironwood felt his brow becoming damp, but he pushed on stoutly.

“Dr Pietro Polendina was particularly taken with this project and volunteered himself for much of the testing stages. It took a toll on his health, but he perfected it in the end. That man is a genius, and a true servant to this world.”

“Why doesn’t he use it on himself? Would it not work?”

“He felt the time spent recovering would take away from his work, and the experience isn’t particularly enjoyable. We did ask him, but its use was mostly intended for unconscious patients who wouldn’t experience the uncomfortable healing process.”

“I see.”

The general saw an out to his current predicament, and grasped it with metaphysical hands.

“The design had one eye on Fria, as well” the general said. “Her Alzheimer’s has got a lot worse over the past few years, and she’s been unfit for combat for a few more before that. If she gets any worse before I found a good replacement for her, this might be a great help. That’s why I thought it might be useful for Amber.”

And for removing any chance of something going wrong during the transfer, thought the general.

“You mentioned it has aura transfer capabilities when I talked to you back in Vale, is there more to this machine than just healing?”

Saw straight through me, thought Ironwood regretfully.

“You’re right. If Fria goes downhill, especially with her Alzheimers, we have little way of controlling who gets the power next. Since the magic is tied to a person’s aura, this might be a way of stabilising the process.”

“Your scientists know about this?” asked Ozpin questioningly. “And this would kill the maiden inside, you know that, general?

He wasn’t calling him James anymore. That was a bad sign.

“No, they don’t know. But I made specific enquiries about the workings of this device to make sure it could be used for something like that.

“That’s taking a life, James.”

“And you might just have to do that” snapped the leader of Atlas Academy. “Amber’s condition is far more dangerous than Fria’s. You don’t know what to expect. I’m not saying it’s good… but it’s the road we just might have to take. We don’t even know what might happen to the recipient, but it’s a much better alternative than our enemies taking the power for themselves.”

Ozpin narrowed his eyes. “Amber’s my friend, James, and yours too. I’m shocked you would so easily do something like this, preparing in advance to hurt people we both know so well. You know I can’t let her die like that.”

“Then just keep her in the machine. Maybe later you will change your mind. And in waiting, who knows how many of our friends will get hurt, let alone others if Salem’s faction has a rogue maiden. Especially a full maiden.”

Both headmasters glared at each other, neither giving way. But Ozpin knew, in his heart, that the general was probably right. Probably.

Finally, Ozpin backed down.

“Hopefully, we won’t have to make such a hard choice.”

Transcript 2: Poise and Style

A sea of white and grey uniforms led the way into the cavernous training room, which seemed like a colosseum of giant bricks with luminous blue mortar.

“They certainly like hard light dust here, don’t they?” said Lina to Coco.

“Not a problem for me!” smiled Velvet, thinking of Anesidora.

The Beacon students followed in afterwards, and Velvet’s ears pricked up as she spied a familiar face.

“Vega!” shouted Coco and Lina at the same time, and burst away from the two teams, leaving them somewhat bewildered. Velvet turned to explain but the girls were already shepherding another figure toward them. The newcomer was a little shy but very smiley, and Jasper couldn’t help but feel like she was less prim and proper than most of the other Atlas students, who might have protested at such a treatment. Lina spoke first.

“Guys, this is Vega, she attended combat school with Velvet and us at Pharos.”

“What, I attended combat school with you? That’s all you can say?” she teased.

“Oh come on, Vega” put in Coco. “These poor people have never met you before, I had to warn them at least.”

“Ignore her” said Lina. “She’s the friendliest person you could imagine, although she looks shy, she could quietly talk your leg off, then stand over your fallen body and talk the other one off.”

“That’s a bit harsh.”

“Is it though?” smiled Velvet, snapping a photo of Vega’s arm-mounted grappling hooks to replace the copy she used during initiation.

“No.”

A few introductions later and Vega Bleu already felt like the fifth member of both teams, merrily mixing with the others and exchanging stories

“Watch yourself though,” warned Lina. “She’ll use that against you if we fight just now.”

\-----

Gale flew back and smashed into the hard light-infused walls, the blocks tumbling down around her.

“Ow!” she winced, pulling her hair out from under the blocks.

“I told you!” yelled Lina as she flew overhead, leaving a trail of fiery explosions in her wake.

“A semblance based on trust doesn’t make that stunt she pulled any less devious!” she returned fire as she picked up her bow and faced her nearest attacker. A pair of curved scimitars clicked open to reveal hidden pistol barrels, which rained yellow electric dust bullets all around her as he jumped. Gale defended with her oversized metal katana, which might have been a mistake, except her leather arm guard and bow glove greatly reduced much of the shocks from the attack.

Then he was upon her, swordsman against swordswoman, with Gale’s extra reach and weight yielding stronger blows, but the extra speed from the lighter scimitar and the extra weapon poking holes in her weaker defence. She grunted as a point caught her shoulder, then jammed it in her guard and twisted it out of his grip, sending him stumbling forwards. Gale ducked the second sword and swept his legs out from underneath him, before belting him away with a kick from her other leg as she spun. Sometimes a better drilled technique needed to be met with some unexpected improvisation.

Over in the southern corner of the room, the situation was completely different. Vega continued to pursue after Lina, sinking her grappling hooks into nearby towers and swinging after Lina as she continued to climb. Lina knew that experiencing the best of Vale and Atlas’s styles of training had turned her into a fearsome fighter, and she had to keep her distance if at all possible.

She batted away one of the claws as the grappling arm threatened to loop around her and wrap her up, and fired into the tower that the other claw was attached to, sending Vega spiralling down for a split second before she regained control and regripped closer to Lina. But the split second indecision was enough for Lina, who fired a precision blast into her attacker’s chest, stalling her and allowing Lina time to regroup.

She looked around to see the boy Gale had kicked struggling to his feet against a wall, much like Gale had seconds earlier. He was down a weapon but didn’t seem particularly fazed as he rushed back towards her. Lina turned her head to see Jasper desperately warding off the other two of Vega’s teammates, who were swinging what looked like a giant pick and an axe towards him. He finally saw an opening and blasted one of them with his Glassfinger punch, but was caught full in the stomach by the other’s axe, and with a flash of green and red auras, both of them fell on the ground, out of the fight. The sword wielder called the axe-wielder over, and began advancing on Gale once again.

Then with a gasp, Lina herself fell on the ground, tied fast by the iron-strong polymer grappling rope and saw Vega grinning over the top of her. Why had she let her guard down? She couldn’t have helped Jasper and Gale anyway, they were too far off, and had waited too long to make her next move.

Then, shockingly, with an equally surprised gasp, Vega too fell on the ground, as Nero swung up on top of the column holding Quarter out from his body, the end wrapped around the helpless Vega.

“You’re not the only one who can swing around, you know” he said dryly as he unhooked Lina. Nero tightened his grip and smashed Vega into the side of the column in a blaze of fire dust, then threw her over the ten-block wall which marked the border of the arena.

“That’s two down,” said Lina, brushing herself off. “Thanks Nero. But Gale’s in trouble! We have to get down there!”

“Not necessarily,” replied the gladiator, twisting his whips together in a spiral above his head.

Lina frowned. “What are you doi-“

Nero threw his arms down and unzipped the helix in a silver blur, sending a massive wave of flaming purple towards the three fighters below them. It was a perfect shot, landing right behind the two Atlesians and blasting them high into the sky, while Gale was blown back only a metre. From there, the weakened students were easy shots for her bow.  
“Since when were you able to do that?”

“Always. It just takes a long time to set up and aim right, so I haven’t been able to use it in the singles or paired fights back home. I was hoping to keep it a secret until we started our team fights where I’m less of a constant target.”

“I never would have thought… that’s incredible, keeping your best weapon until last. You weren’t our top fighter last semester for nothing, I suppose.”

“Vacuans always have their tricks and ways of doing things. Helps us survive. But I couldn’t let us lose to Atlas.”

Nero caught himself for a brief second. Did he just identify as Vacuan? After making up with his parents, or at least beginning to, he thought Vale would feel like he’d come back home. But it hadn’t quite been that way, especially when he told them he still wasn’t going to come back.

Lina nodded. “It looked like we were going to. They split us up perfectly, got you isolated, then teamed up on me before going for Jasper while I ran away. Good strategies.”

“And good technique,” said Gale, returning to the group as they hopped down and walked towards Jasper and Vega standing at the edge of the arena.

“I saw that, Nero” Jasper said. “Dez and I both did as we walked off. Haven’t seen that since the Emerald Forest. I told him I thought we were done for, and then you go and pull that.”

“No faith,” pouted Gale facetiously, sticking her chin in the air.

“True though,” said Dez. “We couldn’t see you properly up on top of that platform, and I hadn’t seen Nero for half the fight.”

“You’re good fighters, Karomel, Vega, all of you,” praised Jasper. “They train you well up here in Atlas.”

“Yeah, but you’re sneakier” said Chain, rubbing his abdomen where Gale had kicked him.

“Maybe you’re not sneaky enough!”

He snorted. “Us? They’d skin us alive if we were as wild as you guys.”

Nero opened the doors to let the next set of teams in as they exited the arena, and waited for feedback from Professor Goodwitch and Professor Flame.

“Better watch out when you fight Vacuans then,” he said jokingly.

There it was again. He hadn’t meant it intentionally, but Nero felt included in that joke, or at least sharing in the reverie. Maybe he was Vacuan, or a Vacuan becoming Valeian rather than an escaped Valeian returning home. It made sense, given he didn’t really cling to those memories of the past.

Unaware of the swirling thoughts in Nero’s head, Jasper was pleased with how quickly they had settled in to the lifestyle in Atlas even in just three or four days. They had made good connections with teams like Vega’s in a very short space of time, faster than he had when they started at Beacon, although maybe that was because of the limited timeframe. Whatever the reason, this trip was turning out to be a great success, and a masterstroke on Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood’s part.

Unbeknownst to him, that thought was a frighteningly accurate description of current events.


	14. Volume 0 Chapter 13: Forgotten History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Beacon students encounter a whole new world of shocks when they take a trip down to Mantle, with a familiar group of huntresses close by in the shadows. Ozpin, the man who has lived throughout Remnant's history itself, tries his hand at teaching it on the way back from Atlas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad.  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Transcript 1: The negelected city

The trip down to Mantle took longer than the one from Beacon to Vale, and made it feel isolated somehow. Sure, it was easy enough for the people up top to fly down in one of their shiny ships, drop off food and other supplies generated in the artificial conditions, and pick up the dust mined down in the cold. By the common folk, the real citizens of this continent, who were the only ones getting their hands dirty. Everything about Atlas was artificial. Including their perception of Mantle.

Which is why Jasper and the others were met with even sourer looks than the ones they had received on their initial reception into Atlas. That mood had lightened somewhat now that both sets of students had had time to mingle, but a second cold welcome down in Mantle came as a bit of a shock to the Beacon troops.

“Oh look,” said a tall woman in her thirties as the half-dozen cargo ships landed in the central drop-off zone, and students began to creep out. “They brought some little friends along with them.” She snorted and turned away, back around the corner where her friends were. “Maybe this time they’ll actually do a proper job of clearing out the city surroundings. It seems they forgot last time. As usual. They always forget about us.”

“Don’t be so harsh on them, Robyn” caressed a shorter woman with fluffy hair and sheep ears. “They probably have no idea of the situation here. See? They look just as surprised as we were when we heard that mine explosion the other day.”

“And how are those two things related?” came the gruff reply, and then a pause. “I’ll tell you how. Both are direct results of Atlas incompetence, their failure to protect the people of this kingdom, as they sit in their mighty city high in the sky safe from any consequences or reality.”

“Robyn, that’s enough.”

“Is it, Joanna? Is it really? It’s not enough. One day we will be treated with respect, not condescension. I’ll make sure of it.”

“How are you going to do that?” asked Fiona Thyme in her innocent inquisitiveness.

“The council. The people of Mantle know they are being mistreated, and I’ll be their voice.”

“But the elections are more than two years away!”

The leader of the Happy Huntresses folded her arms. “I never said we couldn’t do anything in the meantime. The voice of the people needs to know the people, and make it known she stands for them. It wouldn’t hurt to give a little back to Atlas for the way they’ve treated us now, would it?”

“And you’re sure we’ll do this through strictly legal avenues? We wouldn’t want to jeopardize our chances.”

Robyn laughed.

“That, my girl, is the one thing I will definitely not guarantee.”

\------

Yatsuhashi looked around and tried to resist frowning back at the gloomy people looking at him and the rest of Team CFVY. Or maybe it was just the gloominess of the old buildings and dull colour palette that encompassed all.

“It’s not great down here, is it?” Coco murmured to the others, JNGL and other students included. She would have preferred the privacy of Fox’s telepathic group messages to avoid the citizens hearing them, but only Velvet and Yatsuhashi were privy to Fox’s abilities, and they preferred to keep it that way.

Their mission today was to start from the centre of the city with the accompanying Atlas students, and fan outwards to capture any small Grimm which might be hiding within the city walls, before clearing a perimeter outside the city as well. The mines were more dangerous work, loaded with explosive dust veins and nooks and crannies for the Grimm to hide in, and were being left to the third and fourth year students, as well as any huntsmen that Atlas could spare for the job. Which was usually none.

“Look at that!” choked an aghast Brett Salmon as a mining truck rolled past, full of dirty faces and drooping heads. “They look half dead! What are they doing to them down here?”  
“They’re half Faunus too, if not mostly Faunus” whispered Velvet. “I knew it was bad down here from what my dad told me last summer. But even though I was up in Atlas for only a few months, I’d nearly forgotten about it. It sort of… became normal… not to think about it.” Her ears drooped and she turned away shamefacedly.

Fox nodded. “Looks like that’s the norm around here. See no evil, hear no evil, and you think you’re doing no evil, and that’s often the case. Doesn’t help fix the problem though.”

They assembled around the edge of the circle and began radiating outwards in groups of two teams each, one Atlas and one Beacon. CFVY quickly claimed Vega Bleu and the rest of Team BDCK (Bedrock) as their partners and shot off towards the southeast, leaving JNGL by themselves. They grouped up with CHRC (Charcoal), a team of second-years who had payed more attention to their last fight. Of course CFVY flattened the best Atlas team in the glory fight and had gained most of the limelight, but many teams hadn’t bothered to watch, assuming Team BDCK as one of the stronger first-year teams would roll right through the Beacon students. When the opposite had occurred, they had gained a little respect from Team CHRC and a few others but were mostly forgotten in the fanfare of the title fight. 

So for the first few minutes while still inside the city walls, the two teams were able to chat a bit, while dealing with mostly small Atlas Grimm which had evaded the last sweep.  
“I hate those things” said Nero as he dispatched another sulphur fish. “They’re too much like the desert nasties back in Vacuo.”

“They’re like tiny versions of a death stalker” said Lina as she looked behind a trash can.

“Not exactly,” commented Crystal Shine, leader of the team. “They’re arguably nastier. Have the professors taught you about them while you’ve been learning about the native Grimm?”

“A little, but not exactly” said Jasper as he crushed another. “How can they be worse?”

“One at a time is easy enough, but outside the city they come in swarms, like packs of beowolves or sabyrs, only in the hundreds. Then if that doesn’t work, they group together to form a much bigger, nastier beast, with a lot more adaptability than you’d think possible at that size. Plus their tails are like little branding irons.” She lifted a sleeve to show a patch of burn scars. “Had a close shave a few months ago. You need to be vigilant, and very coordinated with your team to handle these suckers.”

“Far out. Not even the cold can stop the Grimm out here being nasty.”

“It does to a degree. But the people on the ground has drawn them in ever since the kingdom was established, and they’ve adapted very well over the centuries.”  
They soon reached the wall of the city, which seemed in worse shape than the rest of the place.

“I hope this wall is sturdier than it looks” observed Lina. “It doesn’t seem enough without the regular patrols you guys do.”

A shadowy figure watched them as they reached the top and disappeared into the snow on the far side. Having observed the students’ conversation and attitudes towards Mantle, they turned and headed back from their eavesdropping.

“Believe me,” muttered Robyn Hill ominously as she walked through the cold. “It’s not.”

Transcript 2: Lessons learned

“I can’t believe we’re leaving already.”

“Neither can I, Lina” agreed Jasper as he stuffed the last pair of red and green coat tails into his suitcase. One corner hung out, the silver streaks running along the red reflecting light into Jasper’s eyes. He blinked, and zipped up the bag, pushing in the bulging clothes with one finger.

“Ow!” Jasper exclaimed as his finger got caught and stuck it in his mouth to numb the pain.

“I’m sure those tests were wrong; your semblance is definitely just being a klutz!” grinned Gale.

“Shut up, you fell off the wall when we were clearing Grimm in Mantle!”

“On purpose! Only a klutz wouldn’t know the difference between controlled falling and an actual trip.”

“Hmm, you sure about that? You brought up the trip, not me.”

“So you admit it then, you don’t know the difference?”

The banter continued the whole way down the elevator and across the platform towards the ship. Coco and Lina listened on in amusement, enjoying listening to the sparring match rather than participating for once. Once they reached the ramp up into the ship where Room 3 awaited them, they suddenly realised the significance of reaching that destination.

The white tip of Lina’s fox tail brushed against the concrete, and she looked up at the Atlas students who had come to bid them farewell.

“I’m not going to see you again Vega, at least not until the Vytal Tournament.”

“Ah, don’t worry. It won’t be an issue.”

“What?”

“I’ll make sure I definitely beat you there, that’ll be a good place to meet up.”

“I hate you so much.”

She shook her head and flashed her enchanting smile. “I don’t believe you!” 

After exchanging few remaining goodbyes and good lucks with the Atlas students, the Beacon students were waved off in a refreshing break from their usual formality. Just like they had when they arrived, they crowded around the windows to catch their last glimpse of the city and students, but instead watching it grow smaller, and with a twinge of sadness and fondness rather than anticipation.

“It’s a lot different to what we thought, wasn’t it?” said Nero.

“In more ways than one.”

“They really did warm to us, didn’t they Gale? Took a while, but they aren’t as stone hearted and strict as I thought they might be.”

“They are people, Nero. Background isn’t everything. You of all people should know that.”

“You’re absolutely right.”

“I do feel sad for the people down in Mantle” put in Lina. “I got the impression they are a convenient blank spot in the memories of a lot of people in Atlas. But we had no real way to help them.”

“Maybe that’s what the people up top think too” said Gale.

“I know, and that’s the problem. They each think they can’t make a difference, so they don’t try. It’s much easier to follow routine and keep it the same way it has always been, but it only takes one person to start change.”

And as the morning sun rose high into the sky, with Atlas casting a huge shadow on Mantle in more ways than one, a woman set out to do just that.

\-----

The first-years sat at their makeshift desks, listening to Professor Ozpin talk about Atlas history. But in contrast to the lack of enthusiasm shown on the trip up, most of the students stayed glued to their seats, drinking in all the factors which had built up and ultimately affected their new friends.

“And so, as they were no longer able to mine in Vacuo after the Great War, Nicholas Schnee set out to bring new sources of power in the tundra of Solitas, which ultimately led to the mines we see today. Now depending on who you believe, the conditions may not as favourable as they once were, or instead a great improvement on how it used to be. But above all, your experience down in Mantle would have taught you - or at least made you realise to some degree - that to understand someone, you have to walk a mile in their shoes. Whether it be people from other kingdoms or parts of kingdoms, Faunus or alternatively humans, you all have different experiences which you hold throughout your lifetime, and those experiences combined is what makes up history itself.”

After that profound end to the lesson, the students dispersed mainly to their rooms, with JNGL and AKKH staying out and finding some lunch from the tiny pilot’s kitchen which was hastily repurposed to accommodate nearly fifty people’s wants and needs. After digging up a cold lasagne and jamming it in the microwave, the group walked around the large central area which contained the desks, looking out the windows over the seascape as they waited for their meal to heat up.

They crossed into the south-west corner of the ship, where the equipment picked up from the Atlas trip had been stashed.

“What a bunch of garbage!” exclaimed Knight. “Look at it, it’s all just flashy buttons and steel.”

“You said the biomes generator was junk when you first saw it,” retorted Harley. “And you were wrong there too.”

“He’s not wrong though,” commented Jasper as he touched the outside of a collapsible television screen which was going up inside the main announcement hall. “All of them are very much over the top.”

“Yeah. These two look like a set of coffins on a bed.”

“They wouldn’t bring a coffin back, idiot” said Harley. “They’re more like a fridge. Besides, it even has a window in the front of it.”

“Fridges don’t have windows.”

“Well I don’t care what it is, but it isn’t a coffin.”

At hearing the raised voices of the Hayze twins, Ozpin looked up from his desk in the small room adjoining the pilots’ and felt his blood freeze. It sounded like… like they were over with the machine. He couldn’t run over there and stop them, that would look way more suspicious than doing nothing at all.

He stood up and closed the door, locked it, and put his card back on his desk. Nothing at all. If they couldn’t ask questions, they would get no answers. 

Not that he planned on telling them anyway.

\---

The second night was nearly over when a bump and a hiss woke the first years, and they heard movement in the front of the ship.

“Ohhh,” moaned Gale uncharacteristically. “I wish we could just stay here. I hate having to move our stuff all the time.”

“You’re just sleepy, its 3AM. Time enough to get back in our own beds for a few more hours.”

“Yeah Lina, but it’s worse than that.”

“How so?”  
“That’s the end of the bunk beds, isn’t it?”

Lina rolled her sleep encrusted eyes and stretched.

“Only you would say that, Gale.”


	15. Volume 0 Chapter 14: A different kind of planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an exciting trip to Atlas straight after the Winter Festival break, the first-years are brought back to earth by the monotony of regular classes, which seem a lot less interesting than as fresh-faced students in first semester. Lina has a brilliant idea to alleviate the boredom, and earns a new nickname along the way. Ozpin, Qrow and Glynda fight over the morals of using Amber's recently constructed pod once the grizly details of its mechanism are revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is also available on Wattpad.  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/250398128-jngl

Transcript 1: Slow going

After a weekend of recuperation, the students were thrown back into normal classes, which took on a monotonous regularity after the recent excitement of the Atlas trip and the Winter festival and school holidays before that.

Three weeks in, and five weeks into the new semester, Gale flopped down on her unfortunate bed, just as she had any times of late as the grip of repetition grew stronger and stronger.

“I’m boorrrrrred!” she called out to no-one in particular. Lina looked up from the notes on top of her desk. She picked up her pen and chewed on the end, a habit she had developed since leaving home which would have horrified her strict parents.

“You’re not alone,” said a cross-legged Nero from the corner opposite Gale. “Everything was new and exciting last semester, and while classes are alright… it seems pretty normal these days.”

“The only thing scheduled for this semester after our Atlas trip – which was expensive for the school, mind you – is the huntsman shadowing missions, which is still four weeks away.”

“Four weeks!” Gale exclaimed in disbelief, throwing her arms in the air dramatically. “I’ll die before then!” She rolled over and pretended to be dead, the sheer entertainment value more than justifying the silliness in the current climate.

Lina continued chewing. The pen was ruined now, but it didn’t stop her. Something was ticking away in the back of her mind.

“If only it were the Vytal Festival this year, we would have so much to look forward to!”

“Yeah Jasper, but then we wouldn’t have gone to Atlas, would we? And now we’d be more bored than…”

“That’s it!!!” cried Lina triumphantly, shocking Gale out of her faux demise and drawing the attention of the two boys.

“What?”

“That’s what we need! All the festival, the cultural food and the markets, the tournament and everything, what are we missing?”

Nero shifted towards her. “Well, all of it really?”

“No, idiot, the Atlas trip was supposed to replace it, and we got most of that already. But what did we miss?”

Gale’s eyes lit up. “The festival ball! I can’t believe we didn’t miss it when we were in Atlas!”

“Well of course we couldn’t have had it there, most of Beacon was still back home. And we’d have missed out on all the fun!”

“What do you mean?” asked Jasper.

“All the planning! All the setup and absolutely alllll…”

“Please tell me you’re going to scale back on the romantic goo, we haven’t even got an idea how to go about this yet.”

“Wait, you’re thinking this is a good idea, Jasper?” queried Nero, his raised eyebrows nearly touching his drooping curls. “This thing would be massive. We don’t have the resources to pull something like this off by ourselves.”

“The answer fell straight out of your mouth, Nero. We won’t be doing this by ourselves, we’d have to get some help, and see if there’s support for such an idea in the first place.”

Lina put down the remains of her destroyed pen. “I could help organise it though. My family…” a twinge swept across her face. “… is invited to more than their share of fancy events and dances with the Lavender business reputation and Lisa’s media connections. I’m sure I could help with some of the formalities.”

“That’s great Lina, we’ll definitely need you as part of the team if it’s going to go ahead.”

“What do you mean? I AM part of the team already, this team, it’s our dance after all.”

Jasper grinned. “So, you want to see a big banner above the entrance, ‘Welcome to Team JNGL’s super cool dance, this is our dance by the way, we thought of it first’?”

“You’re no fun, you know that? Being involved is part of the romance.”

“Grandeur and romance aren’t exactly the same thing, you know.”

Lina huffed. “If you can’t see the connection, then I’m definitely not going to the dance with you!”

Gale had crept over to Nero as the others began talking, and listened with increasing amusement as Lina got more and more animated. She covered her mouth to suppress a knowing smile.

“She didn’t need to say that last part. She’s already decided to ask Castor, hasn’t she?”

“Definitely.”

\-----

Several papers lay scattered across Professor Ozpin’s desk, with both random scribbles and crossings out interspersed between detailed descriptions of what seemed a fantastically flamboyant event.

“Well, what do you think?” he inquired.

Glynda adjusted her glasses and looked over her shoulder towards the Professor, who was leaning to his right with The Long Memory touching the floor beside him.  
“I don’t see any harm in allowing them use the hall for this dance of theirs, but it’s your decision Ozpin, not mine.”

He smiled and raised the tip of the cane to inspect it. “I may have many years of experience, and may be headmaster of this academy, but I still value your opinion, Glynda.” He cleaned a few marks off the edge and retracted it, laying it next to the papers. “If you think it should go ahead, I’ll let them know.” 

She nodded and signed the bottom of the last page as a sigh came from the corner of the room. They quickly stood and hurried over towards the sound, but Qrow was there first, walking over the half-assembled machinery scattered haphazardly around Amber’s bed.

“She’s alright, I think” he announced, a shade of fatigue creeping into his usual raspy tone. Whether it was the constant worry taking its toll or the weeks spent looking after her he couldn’t tell. It was probably a combination of both.

“This is the third time she’s done this, she did it twice while you were gone. I can’t say what’s going on under there for certain, but I think she sometimes hear us at least. She seemed very stressed while you were gone.”

He met the approaching pair with a solemn gaze. “I would… prepare yourself a little. It’s not exactly an inspiring sight. It can be pretty disheartening.”

Tears flowed down Amber’s face, making small wet patches on the sheet below her chin. Her face was drawn, more creased and painful than it usually looked, and she let a hint of a moan slip through her lips periodically. It was a weak lament, a pitiful cry for help that made her seem infinitely more fragile than if she had sobbed aloud.

“I can’t really tell what she’s thinking, if she can think at all anymore. Maybe she’s reliving the attack. Or maybe what happened in the Vault, from what you told me. We just can’t know.”

The headmaster reciprocated Amber’s sigh.

“How long until the machine is ready, Qrow?”

The ever-present hip flask lowered itself from Qrow’s lips.

“Hey, I may be the one who taught my niece how to fix her bike, but this is scientific Atlas tech, it’s not exactly a walk in the park. It’s still got a couple of days work to go.”

“Then we’ll see whether it’s able to help her” said Professor Goodwitch. “She’s barely hanging on.”

Qrow picked his way back towards the unfinished system, cursing his semblance as he stumbled over a stray wire.

“There’s not much we can do in the meantime except watch her, you know. It’d be better to preoccupy yourselves with the business of running this joint.”

Glynda looked back at the paperwork on Ozpin’s desk. “If only the approval of this dance was the biggest worry we had. It would be nice to be optimistic about the what the future holds like these students.”

Ozpin agreed. They had sacrificed a lot behind the scenes to keep that in place. 

“I hope they never have a reason to doubt that ideal.”

Transcript 2: Kitted Out

Lina was on her fourth pen of the morning, yet still hadn’t written anything down. The splintered remains of the other three lay in a bin beside Coco’s desk, right next to its disgruntled owner. 

“If you chew any more of my pens, I’ll kick you out and organise this whole thing myself.”

Lina placed the utensil down on the wooden surface. “I’m trying to think! It’s harder than it looks. Asking Professor Goodwitch if we could use the hall was a different thing entirely.”

“Harder for you, maybe. Didn’t you give her any reasons why it would be a good idea?”

“Well, yes.”

“Then use them! I’ve already come up with half the plan already and you have gone back and forth on two miserable little details for the entire morning!”

“I can’t help it if I want it to be perfect! And you know I don’t have the knack for style like you do, it doesn’t come naturally, so it takes time.”

“Even perfectionists can make decisions, Lina.”

Lina stuck her bottom lip out, and she scribbled the words ‘three rows’ on the page in front of her.

“Fine! There we go, it’s done now” she pouted.

“I’m so glad we care so much about how many drinks tables we put out. Can we get onto the decorations, already? The theme? What music and what dances we want?”  
“There doesn’t have to be a theme, it’s a dance, not a photoshoot.”

Coco gestured to her flawless attire, Gianduja blending in seamlessly in its stylish handbag form.

“Of course we need a theme! Everything needs to fit together. Look at yourself, a fluffy, airy combat skirt with a big bludgeoning weapon, or worse a machine gun? Not to mention its ghastly purple against lime and black, of all colours?”

“Excuse me!”

“I’m just saying that both this ball and your dance outfit needs to look good, with more thought put into it than you put into your current attire. You also need to coordinate your look with your partner’s. Speaking of which, have you thought about who you want to go to the dance with?”

Coco instantly tried to stop the words escaping past her lips, but it was too late.

“Oh yes! I’m hoping Castor is going to ask me, and if not then I’ll ask…”

We’re going to be here a long time, thought Coco.

\----

“Which do you think looks better, Jasper? The red one or this one?”

Gale stood in front of a mirror in a shapely sky-blue gown reaching nearly to her feet, patterned all over with tiny sequins.

“I don’t know. I liked the look of the first one, but I think this one suits you better. I personally like red, so I’m probably biased.”

Jasper scratched his spiky brown locks. “Shouldn’t you be asking Lina or one of the other girls? I’m not very good at this.”

Gale flashed a grin. “It’s supposed to be a surprise, you know! It’s more fun if teams keep their outfits secret, no matter what Coco says. Lina’s out with her again this evening, doing the boring stuff, and Nero’s attitude towards clothing is… relaxed at best.”

“Right. So I’m the only one left.”

Gale tossed her head. “Surely you’ve done this before? I thought you said you had an older sister?”

“Well, yes” spluttered Jasper. “But Sapphire stopped asking after a while, I wasn’t much help. My parents, particularly my mother, were much better at that. They had some idea of particular tastes and styles, being jewellers. After a few years in the business, Sapphire is now probably as good as they are.”

“Still, you would have picked up a few things with that nerdy mind of yours.”

Jasper chuckled. “It wasn’t really my thing.”

“But you collect enough rocks to fill a suitcase a week!” laughed Gale curiously. “Why didn’t you go into the other side of the business?”

He smiled a wry smile. “I won’t deny that…”

“Two suitcases, even!”

“When you break things all the time,” continued Jasper, “and especially expensive rocks, you’re pretty quickly steered away from learning precise gem-cutting or even handling them.”

“Really?” said Gale, looking at her hand thoughtfully as she covered it in the familiar sky-blue glow of her aura. “You’ve had trouble with your semblance for that long? A lot of people don’t unlock theirs until combat school, not even Miss Perfectionist who’s currently out planning this dance.”

“I remember dropping my mother’s crystal rose, or something else I wasn’t allowed to touch, and I got in huge trouble for it. After that, worrying about breaking things probably unlocked my semblance at some point, but I really can’t tell exactly when it happened. Clumsy old me wasn’t allowed to touch much, especially jewellery-related things.”

Gale threw the curtain closed and began undressing, grabbing at her usual grey hunting outfit. “Is that why you came to combat school? Because you couldn’t work there?”

“Partially. But I already liked physical activities and hitting things, and I was beginning to lose those joys as well as Glassfinger permeated everything. I thought clumsy old me would get them back if I became more coordinated at Pharos, but it had the opposite effect for a while. My hammer and gauntlets were a goal, I shaped them into that ideal, hoping I could one day safely live up to it, but you saw what happened with Jewel. I only learned what was going on right near the end of combat school, and am only just getting a handle on it now.”

Gale emerged from the stall, retying the arm-guard strings on her bow arm, with a look of unusual concern and ponderance.

“Jasper, I don’t know what to say. You’ve had a lot to go through by the sounds of it, and so has Nero. Lina even, with the treatment she’s sometimes faced from her name and as a Faunus.” She shifted a little. “I’ve never experienced anything like that. Sure, there’s Grimm out there at Hammerhead Point, but it was all fun and games, even my own semblance is like that.”

“They say your semblance is very strongly intertwined with your personality, and the one is affected by the other. If you want to help the world and have a great time while doing it, that’s reason enough to be here.”

She wiped a misty eye with the back of her bow glove. “I’m glad you think that Jasper. I’ve wondered sometimes if I had a legitimate reason to be here, whether I need to be more serious in life. But I really don’t want to be like that. I want to be me being me.”

“Look at Coco. She doesn’t need a sob story or moral motivation to be the top huntress-in-training in this record-breaking year. Besides, those sorts just get embarrassing after a while, I should know. Nero hasn’t told us how he unlocked his semblance, and I bet there’s a reason behind that. Probably not a pretty one, given its nature.”  
“I would never have thought of that.”

Jasper raised one eyebrow. “I am a stickler for details, you know. You don’t call me a nerd for nothing.”

“Don’t get too full of yourself, super-nerd,” she grinned, punching him in the shoulder. “Or I’ll give you a brand-new sob story to tell.”

Transcript 3: Making moves.

At last the planning was complete, and the final details were falling into place. Lina envied the other girls for getting a head start on all the courting, picking outfits and general discussions leading up to the event. Making the romance happen sometimes came at a cost to the maker.

Lina twitched her nose. She hadn’t really been needed. Coco had been so far ahead in style and ideas that Lina could barely keep up once she had finally been forced settle on seating arrangements on the first day. The only other real contribution of hers which had made the cut was the fog machine. Coco had protested at first, but Lina had argued it couldn’t be a theatrical or opera theme without the fog. At least she could claim responsibility for that when Castor asked.

If Castor asked, Lina corrected herself. She had to keep reminding herself that it wasn’t a total certainty that she would end up going to the dance with him. Then he would be able to ask her what she had done.

But what if he didn’t?

Lina shook her head. She had to stop thinking about it. Whatever happened, she still had to get ready for this dance she had planned, or rather, helped Coco plan.

“Hey, Rosy!”

Gale appeared around the corner, a light blue dress – no, gown, observed Lina – draped over her arm. She placed it on the clothes rack in her corner of the room and let it unfold, the sporadic royal blue sequins glittering in the afternoon light.

“Isn’t it gorgeous, Rosy?” Gale gushed as she fawned over the item. “You’ve never seen the like!”

The new nickname Gale had thought up for Lina had quickly gained traction among her teammates and plenty of the other students as well. Usually, Lina was opposed to flowery references but had learned from an Atlas student that “Lina”, by incredible coincidence, was the name of a genus of lavender. After all these years, it was no better than Thumbelina after all, despite the hated height implications stemming from her real name. Whether by her parents’ design or not, the thought sunk her into a blue funk for the rest of the day until Gale unwittingly presented her with an alternative in the most Gale-esque way possible, by telling her to cheer up and be more rosy.

“I’ve missed you! Barely seen you in days. Come on, we’ve got to get you up and running, a lot of the girls already have their partners, and you haven’t even got your dress yet!”

“Already?” breathed Lina. “It’s only been two days since it was announced, and it isn’t until next Saturday night!”

“You act like it’s scandalous to accept the first request, Miss Melodrama. Wouldn’t want to miss turning all the boys down until Castor finally asks, am I right?”

“Shut up!” mumbled Lina, hiding her embarrassed face and putting her shoulder into Gale’s side. “You’re exaggerating, I’ll bet nearly nobody is together yet!”

“Yatsu and Velvet are already going” Gale countered. “He asked Velvet almost as soon as it was announced.”

“Really?”

“You should have seen her melt! Her ears came down nearly to her shoulders and she went SO red! But she stammered out a meek yes and has been beaming ever since. I’m surprised Coco didn’t mention it.”

“Wow.”

Gale slipped her thick Pumpkin Pete hoodie on, grey like her Huntress outfit underneath.

“Well it’s no use talking about it, Rosy. Let’s get going! The boys won’t catch themselves, especially without a dress!”

“I doubt the boys will have dresses, Gale.”

“You know what I mean. Although, even the famous Qrow Branwen wore a combat skirt one time, so who knows what will happen again.”

\-----

That incident was far from the mind of the aforementioned member of the legendary Team STRQ as he put down the spanner, eyeing the finishing touches on “Amber’s machine” as he called it. His inspection complete, Qrow stood up and looked over at the hospital bed. Such effort, and such strain. It was amazing how far they were having to push themselves to save a power which had previously seemed untouchable, unkillable.

But now that power was torn apart, and a good friend lay at death’s door. Had she really been that strong? It seemed a lifetime away, now that the impossible was being redefined faster than any of them could imagine. He had seen… well he wasn’t sure what he had seen. Ozpin’s last missions for Qrow before guarding the Winter Festival and taking care of Amber had been an investigation, but an incomplete one so far. To find out what she was doing. If she was ready. Amber’s blow had sparked fears that that it was the beginning of the end, at least in Ozpin’s mind.

Qrow didn’t think that was the case. Yes, Salem had her lacqueys, but she had always had them, for thousands of years. Why should now be any different? He sighed. He wished Tai was around to help sometimes, but as soon as Summer had gone missing, all the passion for STRQ and being an active Huntsman had gone, and he had put his skills towards teaching instead. Which was understandable, given the relationship he had had with her. And the failed one with his sister before that.

But even Tai was more contactable than Raven. Despite the sibling relationship, Qrow barely thought of her as family anymore, and his niece Yang, felt a thousand times closer. Tai, and even his other daughter Ruby felt nearer than Raven now, physically as well as metaphorically. Ruby wasn’t even related by blood, which was a perfect representation of how family wasn’t necessarily determined by genetics. In Qrow’s mind, Tai was as much a brother as he was an ex-brother-in-law, and he wished he saw more of him outside of Ozpin’s circle.

He snapped back to reality as the elevator doors opened on his left, and Professor Goodwitch and the headmaster walked in.

“We received your message, Qrow” said Ozpin. “It’s ready?”

“It’s time. Let’s see if this piece of junk works.”

Qrow and Glynda each took a side of Amber’s bed and wheeled it over next to the machine.

“The general explained to me the other day that only the left side of the machine will be switched on when Amber’s inside, but that doesn’t stop the whole machine needing to be assembled for that to work. Pretty stupid design if you ask me.”

“The Atlas scientists are no slouches, Qrow, it’s probably a failsafe, preventing anyone unauthorised from just hopping in and hurting themselves or the other person by accident.”  
“I thought this was supposed to be helping Amber, not killing her. What on earth did James make this machine for, anyway?”

“For healing, as James explained” responded Ozpin. His brow darkened. “Or at least, that’s what it is most of the time.”

Qrow looked up. “What do you mean?”

“He said it works by transferring aura away from the person inside and keeping it at a stable lower amount, forcing their body to generate more to compensate, as can be done through careful training. But this takes the active component out of it, so it can be used even on unconscious patients like Amber. Once the drain is stopped, the body keeps producing it as it was before, giving a higher aura ceiling, giving better protection and faster recovery.”

“That sounds nasty. What sort of healing is that, draining aura away? Painful, more like.”

Ozpin nodded. “Ironwood said as much, which is why it’s used almost exclusively on unconscious patients, like Amber. Or in other dire circumstances.”

“What did you say?” Qrow blinked suspiciously.

“This is an aura transfer machine” said Ozpin. “The general thinks it would be a good idea to transfer all her aura, and attached maiden powers, into an undamaged host.”

“He’s insane.”

“I feel the same way.”

“It would kill her!” spluttered Qrow, “And destroy the life of whoever was on the receiving end!

He left the bed, and started pacing furiously around the room. 

“I know. And I can’t help but wonder if this terrible function is the real emergency plan or something else entirely. He said it was for Fria, to control the next host because they can’t predict her Alzheimer’s. But I’ve dealt with similar things before and worse, I’ve told him so. It doesn’t make sense.”

Glynda chipped in. “James is too paranoid for his own good, and his Mettle exacerbates it. He's been making some questionable decisions of late.”

“You’re not wrong.”

Qrow stopped his shuffling suddenly and locked eyes with the headmaster, his red eyes burning threateningly into the back of Ozpin’s skull.

“Promise me you won’t do that to her.”

“Qrow, this is the very last thing I want to do to her.”

Qrow threw his hands in the air, his raspy voice near to a roar.

“That’s not a promise! That’s a way to weasel your way out as a last resort!” He brought his fist down on Ozpin’s desk, and stabbed aggressively at it with his fingers as he spoke. “Using this machine to its full potential is pushing the boundaries of life and death! Forcing two souls in one! That’s no different to what started this whole mess!”

The three looked over at the metal and glass monstrosity, suddenly a pointed and evil form crouching in the shadows. The blue light of the control panel shone innocently, unaware of the magnitude of terrible power held in its simple screen.

Glynda looked distinctly uncomfortable at this reveal. She opened her mouth and closed it again. After several false starts, she voiced the thought on everyone’s mind, which nobody wanted to utter.

“Do we really want to use this machine?”


End file.
